Director of advocacy, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada Life Story: She hasn’t cracked 30 years of age, but already Diamond Isinger has a CV that would make many practised pols blush. In the early years of the Trudeau administration, Isinger served as special assistant to then-International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, followed by a couple years in the Prime Minister’s Office as special assistant on Canada-U.S. relations. Since returning to Vancouver in 2018, Isinger has held a slew of key public affairs roles—working for the BC Council of Forest Industries, the Trial Lawyers Association of BC and, since last year, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC), which supports the policy priorities of 7,000 small, medium and large co-operatives and mutuals across Canada. As CMC’s director of advocacy, Isinger says her primary role is convening experts and highlighting best practices to co-ops—as well as creating awareness amongst policymakers as to what co-operatives do. Her time in Ottawa undeniably helps. “I help cut through the bureaucracy, identifying issues where they may be having public policy challenges—such as financing, regulatory issues or dealing with different federal departments—to understand where they can best access support,” she explains. Be it politics or public affairs, Isinger says that a commitment to community is the throughline in her career: “Being raised by a single parent in North Burnaby, we were very involved in our community—and we relied on those people supporting us as well.” She extends that sense of duty to her work with the Girl Guides of Canada, where she serves as B.C. chair. Bottom Line: Isinger is shy to point to specific metrics of her advocacy success, but notes that she’s helped many co-ops and mutuals find funding for federal programs. In one example, Isinger notes that CMC was able to open up $400 million of funding for community services organizations, which previously hadn’t been available to co-ops.