Why We Changed Our Name

In 2004, Nicole Swerhun began facilitating engagement processes for governments as an independent practitioner — a natural extension of the work she’d been doing in the public consultation sector since 1996. After a few years working in close partnership with others, Nicole established Swerhun Inc., hired team members, and settled into office space at the Centre for Social Innovation, where the organization began to grow. Since then, Swerhun Inc. has worked in several countries (Canada, Bosnia, Guyana, and throughout the United States) and delivered over 300 engagement projects focused on a range of issues, from the very local to initiatives of national and international significance. Swerhun Inc. has always worked exclusively for public sector clients – governments and public agencies – and occasionally non-profits funded by public resources and organizations created by, and accountable to, governments.

The identity of our organization – what we know and how we do our job – is always evolving as we learn and grow. We have changed our name to better reflect our identity, communicate who we are, and express what’s unique about us.

We agreed that the name Third Party Public reflects our values and the work we do:

  • Third Party, because we facilitate processes as a third party that doesn’t advocate for any particular outcome

  • Public, because we will continue to work exclusively for the public sector to meaningfully engage many different voices in discussions about all things public – from public assets and public policies to public spaces and public services

As part of this change, Yulia Pak and Ian Malczewski are now Principals and joining Nicole Swerhun as shareholders. This change in ownership structure reflects how we’ve been working for some time and our efforts to support paths to ownership for all interested team members. Nicole is the Managing Principal of Third Party Public.

Along with our renaming, we also took the opportunity to update our overall branding. We’re grateful to Co-Effect Creative, who guided us through the rebranding process.

These changes are important steps in the evolution of our team. We love our work and are committed to continuing to use our role to build trust in our collective capacity to work together and improve the conditions in which we all live.

We’re looking forward to continuing our work together and continuing our journey as Third Party Public.