We help organizations and systems respond more effectively to the realities faced by their communities.
Birchwood Consulting supports organizations in Ontario’s health and social service sectors to learn, adapt, and improve. We combine strategic insight, evaluation expertise, and collaborative design to inform decisions that lead to better health outcomes and more responsive services. Our work is grounded in equity, respect, and a deep understanding of how social conditions shape health and well-being.
Our Approach
We ground every project in a person-centered approach, beginning with deep listening to understand experiences and working with partners and participants to define success in context, using collaborative and practical methods grounded in real-world experience.
We share findings clearly, and support learning in action, focusing on building lasting capacity and practical skills so organizations are stronger, more confident, and better equipped to learn, adapt and improve their work long after our engagement ends.
Kristin
Kathiravelu
Founder
Kristin Kathiravelu, founder and principal consultant at Birchwood Consulting, is a skilled facilitator, Credentialed Evaluator, and experienced project strategist with deep domain knowledge in health system and social service contexts. She brings a practical focus to complex challenges, translating evidence and lived experience into usable plans, strategies and learning. Kristin guides every engagement with hands-on involvement to ensure alignment, quality, and responsiveness.
our team
Around Kristin is a core team of analysts and consultants, supplemented by a network of associate advisors with expertise in healthcare, governance, Indigenous relations, equity-focused work, and community-based programming. We assemble the right team to meet the needs of each engagement and bring diverse perspectives and strong capability to our clients.
What sets us apart is how we work. We put people and real experience at the centre of our process, balancing methological rigor with relevance and practicality. We collaborate as co-learners with clients, partners, and communities, building trust, strengthening practice, and supporting meaningful decisions that improve health and well-being.
We’re proud to be fully insured, CAMSC® and WBE® certified, and to consistently uphold the highest standards of ethics, confidentiality, and cultural humility across our engagements. Birchwood Consulting is a pre-qualified supplier to the Government of Canada under the ProServices and Task-Based Professional Services (TSPS) methods of supply, and proud to be an approved Vendor of Record for a variety of Management Consulting services throughout the Ontario Public Sector. We welcome conversations with health and social service leaders who are ready to learn, adapt, and improve together.