What inspires our work?
At the heart of all impactful change exists a powerful story.
Throughout human history, the sharing of stories has served as a critical tool for conveying knowledge, inspiring change, and building meaningful connections.
Yet, today these important narratives often struggle to find their audience.
Information overload creates a sea of digital content where essential stories are lost and unable to break through the overwhelming online noise to achieve their impact.
Capacity constraints among organizations driving change often minimize the ability of teams to come together and develop effective communication plans.
Audience connection is increasingly difficult to achieve, limiting organizations' ability to nurture engaged communities and effectively reach target audiences.
Our solution: elevate changemakers and amplify the stories they share.
Through creative strategy and thoughtful storytelling, we ensure your message cuts through the digital noise and strikes a chord with those who need to hear it most.
Meet Tristan
Tristan Oliff is the founder and principal consultant at Roots of Purpose.
An experienced communicator and community builder, Tristan aspires to use his energy and expertise to promote meaningful collaboration and facilitate equitable social change.
His professional journey has led him through Parliament Hill, into the non-profit world, and around the new media movement, providing a unique background that he now deploys to assist clients tell their stories and communicating clearly.
With South African and French Canadian roots, Tristan resides in Ottawa, where he has lived for the past 8 years, with his wife and two cats.
Meet Tia
Tia Wong is a community organizer, graphic designer, and communications professional based in Ottawa and Toronto. She has volunteered and worked with organizations related to gender-based violence, reproductive health, climate science, and the arts over the past decade and a half.
Tia joined Roots of Purpose to help bring stories to life through meaningful visual design and tailored communications. Outside of work, you’ll find Tia at the movie theatre or enjoying live music.
Our values
Learning as We Grow
We are committed to a journey of learning and unlearning, growing through openness as we adapt to the evolving needs of the communities we serve.
Leading with the Why
We ensure our actions are rooted in a clear understanding of the deeper purpose that drives meaningful decisions and lasting impact.
Courageously Honest
We ground our work in courage and honesty, speaking truth, upholding integrity, and always advocating for the well-being of others.
Confronting Oppression
We confront oppressive systems that uphold colonialism, discrimination and injustice by centring equity and inclusion while creating space to listen to traditionally excluded voices.
Collaborative and Empathetic
We embrace empathy and co-creation across our collaborations, listening deeply to the stories, experiences, and needs of our partners, while always creating space for community wisdom.
Joyful
We cherish joy, creativity, and fun, approaching every new collaborative opportunity with curiosity and imagination.
Our commitment to reconciliation
We acknowledge that our creative journey unfolds on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.
The historical coexistence of Indigenous Peoples with this land bears witness to the profound connection between nature, culture, and storytelling.
In this spirit, we commit to continuously educating ourselves about Indigenous perspectives, histories, and challenges, weaving this understanding into our work.
