Our Team

Virginia Bird BA - Principal & Director of Client Services
Virginia@pottingerbird.com

With over 20 years of hands-on experience, Virginia specializes in building strong relationships between developers and other stakeholders in the Lower Mainland. Virginia holds a bachelor's degree in arts from Queen's University and began her career as a junior associate at Pottinger & Associates in 2006. She became the Principal of Pottinger Bird in 2013 and is responsible for the management and effective execution of all client programs and projects.

Virginia is an active member of the Urban Development Institute Board of Directors and was a former Chair of the Women of UDI Committee. She also sits on the boards of the YMCA BC Foundation, the Vancouver Resource Society, and formerly, the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. Virginia was the recipient of the 2018 Maureen Enser Future Leader Award and was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s Forty Under 40 in the same year.

Kirsten Avison BA - Director of Projects
Kirsten@pottingerbird.com

Kirsten joined the team at Pottinger Bird in 2017. Since that time, she has successfully planned, organized and managed participation in numerous public information meetings, open houses, and municipal public hearings for the firm’s major clients in the BC real estate industry. These responsibilities also encompass detailed community research and profiling as well as professional reporting on public engagement events.

Her prior employment includes five years with a strategic advisory and public affairs consultancy where she gained a full range of project management experience, including the delivery of strategic planning sessions.

Kirsten holds a BA in Communications, Art & Technology from Simon Fraser University.

Heather McCauley - Senior Project Manager
Heather@pottingerbird.com

Heather joined the Pottinger Bird team in 2021. Her roles include contributing to the strategic planning of community relations programs, community mapping, conducting research, and monitoring municipal affairs.

Her prior employment includes over three years with a registered charity in Vancouver as the project manager for all of its housing files including complex public and private partnerships. She has an MA (honours) in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and certificate in Community Economic Development from Simon Fraser University.

Patricia Ng - Project Manager
Patricia@pottingerbird.com

Patricia joined the Pottinger Bird team in 2024 after many years in Vancouver's real estate industry. Patricia's role includes helping to develop and execute community engagement programs for our clients, community and policy research and public event planning. Her work experience ranges from private development firms to non-profit associations in the areas of sales, marketing, development and event management.

Patricia earned a Bachelor of Journalism (Hons) from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Allegra Kelly - Project Manager
Allegra@pottingerbird.com

Allegra joined the Pottinger Bird team in 2020. Her roles include contributing to the  strategic planning  of community relations programs, community mapping, conducting research, and liaising with community stakeholders.

She holds a BA in International Development with a Minor in Indigenous Studies from McGill University, and an MA in International Relations from King’s College London, U.K.

Abigail Johnson- Project & Office Coordinator
Abigail@pottingerbird.com

Abigail joined the Pottinger Bird team in 2025. In her role, she supports the team by managing schedules, assists in organizing community engagement events, and executing community engagement strategies.

Prior to joining the team, Abigail completed a BSc majoring in Neurology and Genetics at The University of Auckland. From here, she worked in client-facing IT roles at high-profile professional services firms, before transitioning into technology transformation projects within both the federal and municipal governments in New Zealand.