Fractional COO  ·  Strategy & Narrative

I help organizations
find the levers
that change trajectories.

Then I build the operational machine to make it real. I work at the intersection of story, strategy, and technology to map narratives and design interventions that build understanding, and propel action.

Currently: taking on select fractional and advisory engagements, and open to the right full-time role.
2× founderAvalanche Insights acquired 2023 | Fathom AI acquired 2026
20 years leadershipacross media, corporate, advocacy & AI
Cross-sectorclients from the AFL-CIO to Netflix

How I work

From strategic planning to theory of change to GTM, the labels and artifacts change, but the fundamental work runs through the same cycle. I help organizations run it well.

01
Build shared understanding
First we get everyone seeing the same whole picture: the system, the people, the constraints, the assumptions underneath. Stakeholder interviews, assumptions mapping, gap analysis, whatever it takes to know what is actually true.
02
Identify the levers
From that shared picture, we map the many possible levers and the pathways to move them, then narrow our focus to the few that promise outsized impact.
03
Define the strategy
We set a clear strategy aimed squarely at that lever: what we are doing, in what order, and how we will know it is working.
04
Execute and measure
We build the operations, systems, and rhythms to deliver, and measure what is actually moving. The strategy becomes action, and adapts as we learn.
05
Do it again
Then we run it again. Each turn of the cycle builds your team's own muscle to see clearly, focus, and act, until running it becomes second nature.

Who I am

I am a storyteller.

I started in film, and I still believe what I believed then: a good story is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing how people see each other.

I am fuelled by purpose and obsessed with execution.

Purpose without structure is just aspiration. I love building the systems, teams, and operational machinery that turn ambitious ideas into lasting change.

I am a mother and a founder, and unapologetically both.

In every organization I have led, I have worked to strengthen systems that enable us to crush it at work, and be present for families. Flexible work, remote teams, empowered culture.

I am AI Native. Human First.

If you had told me in film school that I would start an AI company, I would have laughed. But chasing better ways to understand people and bridge divides led me, somehow, exactly there.

Tovah Paglaro

For twenty years I've worked to deepen how people make sense of each other, and to translate shared understanding into impact.

I started in film as an assistant director and award-winning producer, drawn to the power of story to create connection and empathy. As an executive at CTV, Canada's largest broadcaster, I became increasingly focused on the intersection of story and strategy, and how it can be used intentionally to create social change.

That led me into movements and public campaigns.

At the David Suzuki Foundation, I led Blue Dot, a national movement to recognize the right to a healthy environment. We raised millions, built a cross-country tour with artists, organizers, and community partners, trained local leaders in twenty cities, and launched a national campaign to amend Canada's Constitution.

But the better I got at winning campaigns, the more concerned I became about how those same campaigns could unintentionally deepen division and fuel polarization. Power mapping could show how to win, but it didn't account for the cost of externalities.

That led me into systems thinking.

I joined RADIUS Innovation Hub at Simon Fraser University as General Manager, worked with the founding team to build the organization's first 10-year strategic plan, established its permanent home, and grew the team to a core of thirty, while deepening my understanding of systems thinking, social entrepreneurship, and organizational design.

At the same time, I founded Avalanche Insights, a tech-enabled research company that centred the voices of communities in the decisions that affected them, combining innovative research methodologies with machine learning to make sense of language at scale. Our work informed billions of dollars in advocacy and campaign investment across North America, with organizations like the AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, Priorities USA, and TED.

But Avalanche was still constrained by the limits of an agency model. So when it was acquired in 2023, we made a deliberate decision to spin out the core technology and put it directly into the hands of researchers. That became Fathom AI, a SaaS platform for large-scale text analysis, acquired by QuestionPro in 2026.

From a single story. To a national movement. To organizational systems. To millions of voices in data.

I've spent twenty years learning how shared understanding gets built, and how easily it breaks. And now, as AI reshapes how knowledge is created and interpreted, this is the work that still excites me most.

Selected work

A few organizations I've helped build, and their impact.

AI · Research technology

Fathom AI — Founder & COO

The context
Open-ended research holds the richest signal but is the hardest to scale.
The work
Built a human-in-the-loop AI text-analytics platform that integrates with any research or insights stack.
The impact
A leading AI text-analytics platform used by agencies like Gallup and brands like Paramount. Acquired in 2026.
Politics · Public opinion

Avalanche Insights — Founder & COO

The context
Critical issues weren't landing because narratives weren't resonating, and traditional research couldn't explain why.
The work
A tech-enabled research service that unlocks the depth of a focus group at the scale of a poll.
The impact
Insights that drove $2B in spending in the 2020 cycle, on issues like reproductive freedom and electability. Acquired in 2023.
Social innovation

RADIUS SFU — General Manager

The context
A small innovation hub with strong programs but no coherent strategy or operating structure.
The work
Built a 10-year strategic plan, an organizational theory of change, and an operational foundation.
The impact
Established permanent funding and infrastructure, and grew the team from four to thirty.
Campaigns · Advocacy

Blue Dot, David Suzuki Foundation — Project Lead

The context
Canada had no recognized right to a healthy environment: to clean air, fresh water, or healthy food.
The work
Kicked off a national movement, including a cross-country tour with celebrities, communities, and leaders.
The impact
A 20-city tour, 120+ municipal declarations, 20,000 volunteers, $3M raised, and federal momentum.

Selected research & press

Recognition
Insight250 Winner, 2023  ·  Quirk's Research Excellence Award  ·  Leaders in Tech, 2024–25

Ways to work together

Pick the door that fits where you are.

Fractional COO
Embedded operational leadership for a stretch when you need someone to build the machine and steady the ship, without a permanent hire. I have been COO twice.
Best for: scaling orgs, leadership transitions, post-funding ramps.
Strategy & theory of change
A focused engagement to understand the situation, find the lever, and hand you a plan you can run, with me on call as you execute.
Best for: stuck strategy, big decisions, campaigns and movements.
Narrative & research
Research and narrative work to find the language that resonates, mobilizes the people you need, and holds up under pressure.
Best for: launches, repositioning, advocacy and organizing.
Coaching & advisory
Working alongside founders and leaders so they lead at their best. I mentor and coach with WIRE, The Forum, and Stanford's Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy for Practitioners.
Best for: founders, executives, and senior teams in the thick of it.

Writing

I write about strategy, leadership, narrative and AI.

How shared understanding gets built and broken, what AI is doing to the way we know things, and how mission-driven work can win.

Read on Substack

Get in touch

If something here resonates, let's talk.

tovahpaglaro@gmail.com