About Upstream Management Solutions 

Upstream Management Solutions (UMS) is a boutique management consulting and training company founded by Jordan Max and offering our five PULSE pillars of excellence, experience, and expertise in:

• Policy Research, Development & Analysis

• User Experience/Human Centered Design

• Learning & Development

• Strategy/Strategic Planning

• Engaging Stakeholders & Partners.

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Practical regulatory expertise, applied proportionately

Upstream Management Solutions provides consulting and learning support to professional regulatory bodies, delegated administrative authorities, professional associations, and public-sector organizations involved in public protection.

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Our work focuses on helping regulators navigate complexity, manage risk, and strengthen accountability, using approaches that are practical, proportionate, and grounded in real regulatory environments.

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Our Approach

We work as a short-term extension of internal capacity, supporting work that organizations typically do themselves—but may not have the time, resources, or specialist expertise to complete confidently.

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Our support is designed to:

• integrate with existing governance structures

• respect oversight and accountability requirements

• produce tangible, usable outputs

• support sound decision-making

We do not promote one-size-fits-all solutions or large, open-ended transformation initiatives.

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Experience That Matters in Regulatory Contexts

Upstream’s work is informed by more than 20 years of experience working within and alongside regulatory organizations.  This experience means we:

• understand Board and executive dynamics

• are comfortable working within oversight environments

• appreciate the importance of public interest and consumer protection

• recognize the practical constraints regulators face

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As a result, we are able to start and contribute quickly, without a prolonged learning curve.

 

How We Typically Work With Organizations

Organizations work with us when they need:

• independent, credible advice

• short-term diagnostic or capacity support

• help clarifying priorities or risks

• practical guidance on emerging issues

• Board- or oversight-ready materials

 

Engagements are typically time-limited, clearly scoped, and aligned with organizational capacity. Our work includes diagnostic assessments, reviews, environmental scans, analysis, advice, reports, implementation road maps and plans.

 

We help broader public sector organizations to achieve their mandates by solving their toughest challenges by going "upstream" to the source, instead of focusing on symptoms.  No project or engagement is too small, and we have very reasonable rates for not-for-profit organizations.   

 

Learning and Capacity-Building

In addition to consulting support, Upstream offers Upstream Academy, a suite of short e-learning courses designed specifically for busy regulatory professionals, completed in under an hour.  Courses focus on regulatory policy, strategy, user experience, stakeholder engagement, and performance measurement, and are often used to complement consulting work or support internal capacity-building.  Group and in-person training is also available at competitive prices. 

We are also available to speak and present thoughtful briefs and insights to your board, staff, or volunteer meetings and retreats. 

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A Proportionate, Regulator-Specific Focus

Upstream works almost exclusively in regulatory and public-sector environments.

This focus allows us to bring:

• sector-specific insight

• shared learning across organizations

• an understanding of what is realistic and defensible

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Our goal is to help regulators move forward with confidence—without unnecessary complexity.

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We work with public sector organizations to improve regulatory performance in the public interest, such as: 

• Federal, provincial and municipal governments

• Profession-regulating and other regulatory bodies

• Hospitals, universities and colleges

• Agencies and special purpose bodies

• Member associations

• Non-profit organizations

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Upstream Management Solutions is registered as a SAP Ariba (Business Discovery Network) Supplier for Canada and the City of Toronto to bid on Requests for Proposals. 

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Contact

If you would like to discuss whether diagnostic or targeted consulting support would be useful in your context, you are welcome to get in touch for an informal conversation.

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