Ci is a nimble group of a dozen high-level strategic thinkers in Vancouver, Portland and NYC. They are led by Ci's founder and creator of The SHIFT Report, Kierstin De West. Here's a bit about Kierstin:

Kierstin De West is the key strategic & research mind at Ci and has been developing brand and creative strategies based on consumer, cultural and marketplace insight for the last 12 years. She is an expert in the relationship between consumers, brands and sustainability and has worked as a brand planner at a number of high profile advertising agencies helping build brands such as Hershey Foods, Unilever and Allied Domecq. Kierstin has worked on the client side of the business at About.com and helped lead the successful repositioning of the company to prepare it for acquisition by Primedia. Her work has taken her to NYC, San Francisco and now Vancouver.

With a keen interest in culture, consumers and their marketplace, Kierstin saw early on in 2000 that all indicators were pointing to a significant cultural shift where consumers were making lifestyle and purchasing decisions based on a set of predefined values: integrity and social responsibility.

She speaks regularly on consumers and sustainability, and hosted a weekly sustainability segment on Global Morning News - the highest rated morning news show in BC. Kierstin also lectures at various universities and business school programs. To contact Kierstin for a speaking engagment, contact sandra [at] ci-shift [dot] com.