Get to Know Collab LP
Christine Nesbitt OLY, MAP
(she/her)
Partner, Major Projects Planning & Olympic/Paralympic Facility Advisory
Olympic gold and silver medallist and 3-time Olympian
From an early age, Christine has been dedicated to sport, which led her to a highly successful career in speed skating. As an elite athlete, Christine represented Canada at three winter Olympic Games: Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. She won her first Olympic medal, a silver, in the Women’s Team Pursuit at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games. Her second medal, spurred by the Canadian home crowd at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, allowed her to reach the top of the podium and become Olympic Champion. Christine is the first Canadian woman to win Olympic Gold in the Women’s 1000m. Over the course of her career, she also set World Records in both the 1000m and Team Pursuit, and was crowned World Champion 8 times.
Since her retirement from elite sport, Christine has been inspired to link community building, sport and city building, particularly through the lens of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This led her to a Master’s degree at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. Her masters research aimed to help host cities transition Olympic facilities and infrastructure into successful community-oriented legacies, particularly transitioning Olympic Villages to affordable and social housing to meet a host city’s post-Games needs. She believes that the Olympics can have a powerful positive impact on the local hosting city and region.
Christine has continued her involvement in shaping elite sport, sitting on the Canadian Olympic Committee’s (COC) Athletes’ Commission for four years (2017-2021), and now the COC’s OLY Canada Commission (2021-present). Christine has been a member of the Richmond Olympic Oval Board of Directors since 2018, bringing her full circle from where she won her Olympic Gold medal, to supporting the new generation of elite athletes as well as supporting community sport and health. Sitting on the Finance and Audit and Business Planning sub-committees continues to inform her decision-making capacity, and deepen her experience managing the complex nature of preparing, bidding, hosting, and managing the outcomes and legacies of the Games.
Christine currently works at the City of Vancouver as a planner in the Community Planning, with a focus on Major Projects. In this role, she contributes to a dynamic and collaborative team managing long-term and large-scale urban planning projects that have multiple stakeholders, landowners, and land uses. Developing a vision, policies and the path to implementation for these projects is deeply embedded in her daily work. Christine’s Olympic experience translates into Major Projects, Olympic and Paralympic planning well. She excels at setting collaborative short and long-term goals, critical analysis, visualization and implementing ideas and strategies.
David Cooper MPl, MCIP, RPP
(he/him)
Partner, Infrastructure Advisory & Program Development
Since 2005, David Cooper has contributed to numerous transformative transportation initiatives across Canada. David's distinctive experience as the only urban planner in Canada who has practiced in the public sector in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto provide clients unique perspectives on how to successfully shepherd politically sensitive projects through large municipal and regional governments. Through his work in these three major cities, David has been integral in all stages of planning, procurement, delivery, and commissioning for multiple rapid transit projects.
Some of David's significant transportation contributions include: planning the Relief Line Subway and King Street Pilot in Toronto; procurement support for the Broadway Subway Project and development of TransLink's Battery-Electric bus program in Vancouver; implementation of LRT/BRT expansion and regional transit in Calgary. David recently authored the Canadian Urban Transit Association's COVID-19 National Recovery Strategy, a foundational plan which has helped to obtain emergency operational funding to maintain transit service during the acute stage of the pandemic and to secure long term capital funding to position public transit at the centre of economic recovery.
David firmly believes in supporting and facilitating success for new community builders. Through his work teaching as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and Ryerson University, he instructs future planners on transportation policy, planning processes and public consultation. David also is contributing to his community through his current appointment as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Vancouver.
David's contributions to city building and transportation have been nationally recognized. He was the recipient of the 'President's Award for Young Planner of the Year' granted by the Canadian Institute of Planners, the 'Individual Leadership Award' from the Canadian Urban Transit Association, and received Mass Transit's 'Top 40 Under 40 Award' in North America.