Karen Brown

Experience

• 

  Ryerson University

  Oct 2004 - Apr 2006

  Event Staff, Interuniversity Sports and Special Events

  • Sold tickets and concessions, ensured floats balanced at the end of each shift• Kept score for volleyball and hockey games• Assisted with set up and tear down of gym

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  Ryerson University

  Aug 2006 - Apr 2007

  Customer Service Supervisor, Interuniversity Sports & Special Events

  • Oversaw all financial intake for games and streamlined the ticket taking procedure at gym entrances• Created training manual for the department including a training scheme for new employees• Kept track of concession stock and ordered supplies

• 

  Ryerson University

  Aug 2007 - Apr 2008

  Operations Supervisor, Interuniversity Sports & Special Events

  • Supervised staff of 10+ during games and events and assisted with scheduling of staff• Conducted interview of potential employees• Ensured venue was set up to specifications on time and looked after venue outside of rehearsals

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  Mercury Films

  Feb 2008 - May 2008

  Office Production Assistant (Internship)

  • Compiled the EPK for the 2008 Hot Docs Film Festival• Coordinated all courier pick-ups and deliveries, completed petty cash reports and created travel itineraries• Answered phones and corresponded with other internal and external clients• Hired on as Office Production Assistant after completion of 6 week internship; trained replacement intern

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  Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

  May 2008 - May 2012

  Box Office Associate/Venue Box Office Supervisor (Contract)

  • Supervised box office staff at multiple theatre locations• Interacted with customers at primary box office and problem solved customer service escalations

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  Arabesque Dance Company, Orchestra and Academy

  Oct 2008 - May 2010

  Office Administrator

  • Wrote local, provincial and federal grants for the Dance Company• Maintained all office equipment including computers and printers• Assisted with the production of a dance conference with 250+ global participants; coordinated travel and accommodations for international instructors• Researched, contacted, cultivated and met VIP’s on press tour for two large scale shows• Scheduled volunteers and trained staff on how to use cash register• Organized renovations of lobby and two studios ensuring all costs were below budget Show less

• 

  Copyright Collective of Canada

  Aug 2010 - May 2011

  Administrative Assistant to the Director of Finance (Contract)

  • Entered and reconciled Accounts Receivable• Analysed data to create financial reports• Handled all filing, mailings, photocopying and faxing; • Responsible for depositing cheques with a total value over $1 million

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  Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival

  May 2011 - Aug 2011

  Assistant to the Office Manager/Festival Coordinator (Co-op)

  • Point of contact for public, vendors, event managers, media and all level of politicians for the Carnival• Liaised with Justin Trudeau’s Senior Staff to coordinate his attendance at the CP24 picnic• Created, sent out and tracked all VIP invitations• Greeted and signed in all VIP attendees to various Carnival events• Compiled, updated and tracked VIP lists for multiple events in various Excel documents• Trained volunteers and supervised high school and college interns and handled all of their customer escalation inquiries• Answered phones and sold tickets to the general public Show less

• 

  Toronto International Film Festival

  Aug 2011 - Sept 2013

  Box Office Supervisor (Contract)

  • Supervised staff to ensure ticket sales were completed in an efficient and correct manner• Problem solved any customer service escalations and some technological issues

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  Canadian Opera Company

  Sept 2011 - Nov 2013

  Ticket Services Staff

  • Assisted point of contact for all general inquiries including ticket sales and donations.• Updated customer accounts, assisted with subscription seating

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  Honda Indy

  Jul 2012 - Jul 2013

  Box Office Staff (Contract)

  • Answered customer questions about event and surrounding area; sold tickets packages• Reconciled cash from daily sales over $1500.00

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  The National Ballet of Canada

  Oct 2012 - Dec 2016

  • Main point of contact for all incoming e-mails received from the general public and handle all escalated customer service inquiries in a professional and efficient manner• Running and processing all sales, database, and Front of House reports• Creating staff scheduling and entering weekly payroll updates• Backing out and reprocessing tax receipts• Troubleshooting all technical problems (computer, scanner, printer)• Coordinating subscription mailing materials including envelope inserts and printing of tickets• Overseeing seating subscriptions; responsible for booking ticket orders for Executive Management• Creating Group Sales business plan and communicating deadlines and updates with concierges• Created, built and maintained internal departmental website; maintain relevant pages on National Ballet of Canada website• Responsible for all processing and fulfillment of subscription orders, including payment installments, issuing and mailing of receipts, confirmations and tickets• Processing and maintaining the marketing, ticketing, customer relationships and fundraising database, Tessitura • Maintaining and troubleshooting the MindBody database for recreational dance program called In Studio• Maintaining relationships with, and act as a primary point of contact for patrons who donate $2K+ to the organization.• Resolving customer service issues quickly pre-performance on a show shift; supervising staff during performance shifts• Supervising, hiring and training 10+ part time call centre and box office staff members• Assist in the implementation and ensure training in the accurate practice of policies and procedures as established for the Call Centre and Box Office• Processing RSVP’s from Friend’s Corp and Patron’s Council for events, dinners and dress rehearsals• Processing all monies received including ticket sales, donations, pledge payments, Endowment Fund donations and memberships Show less

  • Coordinator, Audience and Donor Services

    Nov 2013 - Dec 2016

  • Audience & Donor Services Representative

    Oct 2012 - Nov 2013
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  Sundance Film Festival

  Jan 2013 - Jan 2013

  Box Office Associate (Contract)

  • Sold and reconciled last minute rush tickets; communicated with patrons about the Festival and Park City• Assisted with the counting and tracking of People’s Choice ballots

• 

  Heart & Stroke

  Dec 2016 - Feb 2018

  Coordinator, Donor Services

  • Handle donor service issues escalated from internal partners and external call center via phone, mail and email.• Respond to donor requests/inquiries via phone, mail and email.• Contact donors in the case of missing or inaccurate information and corrects the database accordingly.• Publish new campaign content, update existing content and/or archive outdated content on the Heart and Stroke Foundation intranet.• Brief fulfillment partner/call centre partner and provincial partners on each campaign and any ‘hot’ issues that may incite donor calls.• Provide a range of administrative support to the Direct Marketing team including materials preparation, organization and scheduling meetings, large scale photocopying (when needed), and other administrative tasks requiring professional assistance• Oversee requisition of office supplies, equipment and services; open and distribute incoming departmental mail; ensure effective operational support to the Direct Marketing team at all times.• Recruit and supervise volunteers to assist with office administration (as required).• Process all courier and other shipments.• Provide document editing and proofreading support to the team, including confidential letters, reports and correspondence from detailed copy, notes or verbal instructions.• Process and keep track of all project and campaign invoices for Direct Marketing through the Finance department.• Process purchase orders, administrative claims and invoices as required.• Monitor and fulfill supply of materials related to tax receipting.• Assist the Coordinator, Direct Marketing with final approval of all live data signoffs as they relate to mail campaigns.• Liaise with suppliers and internal departments ensuring that fulfillment needs for the program are met. This includes the setup of thank you letters, coordinating receipt insertions, fulfilling donor requests for greeting cards and any other premium fulfillments. Show less

• 

  Housing New Zealand Corporation

  Apr 2018 - Feb 2019

  Project Administrator-Programme Team 1, Asset Development Group

  I started in a temp role as an Administrator in the Chemical & Decontamination team before moving to the Asset Development Group. I work as part of the admin team for Team 1 however I have taken on a few specialized roles including act as the primary administrative support for the Auckland Minor Development Manager.RESPONSIBILITIESAuckland Minor•Coordinate the creation and signature of Short Form Agreements and create the PO’s from those agreements•Overseeing previous Auckland Minor staff emails to ensure correspondence is responded to and supply them with the new contact information•Working with suppliers in reconciling a significant amount of outstanding invoices from the previous Auckland Minor team•Updating property folders to ensure any missing documentation such as Short Form Agreements are saved.•Figuring out where a project sits financially by comparing the Feasibility to the current amount spent to determine if the Development Manager needs to contact Finance for a budget uplift•Updating data for the monthly reports with the supervision of the Development ManagerProgramme Team 1•Filling out Stats NZ Quarterly Building Surveys for Auckland Minor & Team 1 properties•Training the coordinator on various tasks she does not know in Oracle and ASAP•Creating and maintaining hard and soft copy files for the Programme Team•Creating and updating property information within Housing New Zealand systems, including Asset Set up•Creating requisitions or update Purchase orders to fulfil payment to suppliers•Communicating with suppliers to troubleshoot as well as ensure they are following the proper invoicing procedureChemical & Decon•Liaising with contractors & testers to ensure they were working within the preset timelines•Ensuring contracts and SSSP’s were signed in a timely manner so the decontamination could start•Updating Work Orders to cover variations from contractors•Sending weekly update report to Tenancy Liaison Officers across New Zealand Show less

• 

  Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities

  Feb 2019 - now

  • Plan, schedule & prioritize workloads in a complex & fast-changing environment, taking into account upstream & downstream stakeholder needs & balancing against the requirements of the business unit & direct reports.• Proactively identify improvement opportunities, risks, trends, & changes that may affect the business unit. Collaborate with others to recommend solutions & implement outcomes. • Recruit, build & lead a high performing, diverse team that are values driven, collaborative & deliver the highest quality support.•Proactively develop direct reports through coaching/mentoring & providing development opportunities.•Set clear expectations & direction for the team, holding people accountable & actively manage activities that enable projects to move through their stages from Feasibility to Delivery.•Manage the effective flow of information & efficient processing of data relating to projects through the entire lifecycle.•Manage, resolve, & act as key contact for issues that have been escalated from internal & external stakeholders, collaborating widely, & implementing effective solutions.• Identify & define new systems/processes, create associated collateral & manage change implementation.•Ensure compliance with Kāinga Ora practices & frameworks relating to all aspects of the project lifecycle.•Manage delivery forecasts against SPE targets to ensure deliverables are achieved. Ensure early escalation of significant risks identified.•Lead the preparation of cyclical & ad-hoc reports, identifying performance against targets, risks & mitigations, & upcoming requirements•Actively participate in working groups to identify, develop, implement & champion proposed changes.•Ensure effective implementation of software roll outs by being the business lead, creating accompanying business processes & providing oversight & quality assurance of data.•Advise on & beta test automated reporting. Provide context & operational understanding to data. Show less • Supporting the Manager Administration and Reporting in managing programme operational functions. Prepared to lead the team in the temporary absence of Manager.• Persuading and influencing throughout the organisation.• Support our leadership as required to drive effective and positive improvement in line with the new business model.• As a senior member of staff, this position will assist in recruitment, on-boarding and training of staff along with a variety of day to day demands to help drive effective and positive improvements. • Resolves issues that are blocking progress of programmes and navigating technical difficulties.• Ownership of all regularly scheduled reports and ad hoc reports as required• Contributing to the professional development of Project Coordinators and Project Administrators • Upholding established project processes and procedures• Creating and/or contributing to the development of new processes/procedures and amendments to continuously improve existing process/procedures for Construction and Innovation Group• Planning and managing the implementation of operational process changes• Ensuring the quality of information in Kāinga Ora’s systems is maintained• Involvement in Working Groups across Kāinga Ora to facilitate effective process and systems improvements• Actively engaging to share information across the delivery teams, providing improved cohesion and identification of opportunities for collaboration • Maintaining positive and productive working relationships with Kāinga Ora stakeholders• Developing own personal leadership capability and skill set• Contributing to the successful delivery of homes through management of system-based deliverables Show less • Carry out robust & accurate reporting to ensure the wider Programme Team are supplied with usable information. • Managing the pipeline of Business Cases. This includes the collation & interpretation of key information as well as managing the planning process, circulation, feedback & coordination of approvals.• Managing the process & coordination of Budget Uplifts.• Coordinating project data across multiple software applications to ensure enterprise-wide alignment of data.• Comprehension of building plans to suit Kāinga Ora’s asset management system.• Updating financial forecast information.• Raise, increase, manage & close out purchase orders as requested & carry out quality assurance checks to ensure the required documents are provided, are correct, are signed & attached to the purchase order.• Trouble-shooting, investigating & problem solving where instructions and/or data is unclear.• Work closely with suppliers to investigate, action & resolve any unpaid invoices, lagging correspondence responses or other administrative queries. • Assessing Construction Contract Payment Claims & liaising with the Project Accountant to determine if Purchase Orders need to be assessed for budget, possible increases & that variations are approved.• Review & maintain the Admin Email Inbox ensuring that all emails are allocated to a team member & actioned within agreed timeframes.• Provide general administrative support to the Programme Team as required including taking minutes, organising meetings & coordinating various team activities.• Supporting the wider team with implementation of technology, embedding change & guiding the team on technical enquiries.• Coordination of the procurement process for consultants.• Drafting SFA and CCCS Request Forms & coordinating the preparation & signing of the contract documents.• Coordinating training of new staff & ensuring current staff are up to date.• Creating training materials and process documents. 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  • Manager - Administration & Reporting

    Mar 2023 - now

  • Senior Programme Coordinator

    Jun 2022 - Mar 2023

  • Project Coordinator - Construction

    Feb 2019 - Jun 2022