Stakeholder & Rightsholder Engagement Services
Build trust, understand community priorities and turn meaningful participation into better decisions.
Yulu Public Relations provides stakeholder and rightsholder engagement consulting across Canada and the United States. We help nonprofits, foundations, public agencies and purpose-driven businesses identify relevant stakeholders and rightsholders, understand community priorities and design meaningful participation.
Our work combines engagement strategy, community listening, impact consulting and communications planning. We help organizations bring community perspectives into decisions, strengthen programs and communicate clearly about what happens next.
When to Bring Yulu In
Meaningful engagement starts while people still have an opportunity to influence the outcome. Yulu helps organizations plan and deliver engagement when:
- You are developing a program, partnership or initiative and need community perspectives to inform its direction.
- You need to identify stakeholders and rightsholders, understand relationships and recognize gaps in participation.
- You need to understand concerns, competing priorities or barriers to accessing services.
- You want to involve communities in shaping communications, advocacy or impact programs.
- You have gathered feedback and need to translate it into practical recommendations.
- You need to explain decisions, report back to participants and maintain relationships beyond a single consultation.
Our Stakeholder & Rightsholder Engagement Services
Stakeholder and Rightsholder Mapping
Understand who is affected by your initiative, who has relevant rights or decision-making authority, and whose perspectives are missing. We map groups, relationships, interests and participation needs to inform a more thoughtful engagement strategy.
Engagement Strategy and Planning
Define the purpose of engagement, the decisions it will inform and the opportunities people have to participate. We develop plans that connect objectives, audiences, methods, timelines and responsibilities, with clear expectations about how input will be considered.
Community Listening and Interviews
Build understanding through structured conversations with community members, partners and people with lived and living experience. We use interviews and listening activities to explore priorities, concerns, barriers and opportunities that can inform program and communications decisions.
Community-Led and Participatory Program Design
Create opportunities for communities to shape the initiatives intended to serve them. We support collaborative planning and participatory approaches that bring community knowledge into program design, partnerships and communications.
Engagement Materials and Outreach
Help people understand the initiative, why their participation matters and how to get involved. We develop clear messaging and engagement materials, with channels and formats selected to reflect community needs and participation barriers.
Findings, Recommendations and Reporting Back
Translate engagement findings into practical direction. We synthesize themes, identify areas of agreement and difference, and connect insights to recommendations. We also help organizations explain what they heard, how input informed decisions and what comes next.
When engagement involves sensitive issues or lived experiences of harm, our trauma-informed engagement and communications approach prioritizes dignity, informed consent and meaningful choice in how people participate and share their perspectives.
Our Approach to Meaningful Engagement
Clarify What People Can Influence
We begin by identifying the decisions ahead, the purpose of participation and the scope for change. Clear expectations help people understand how their time and input will contribute.
Recognize Rights, Relationships and Context
Stakeholders and rightsholders are distinct. We consider relevant rights, community protocols, histories and relationships when shaping an engagement approach.
Design for Participation
We consider who may face barriers to participating and how timing, format, language and accessibility affect involvement. Engagement methods should reflect the people involved and the questions being explored.
Connect Listening to Action
We help organizations turn what they learn into decisions, program improvements and communications. Reporting back makes the relationship between participation and action visible.
Stakeholder and Rightsholder Engagement in Practice
Indigenous Research Circle
Yulu supported the University of Calgary’s Indigenous Research Circle with a participatory communications strategy informed by rightsholder interviews. The work brought Indigenous perspectives into the development of communications and collaborated with Indigenous-owned Buffalo Hyde Creative on design.
The project demonstrates how engagement can inform an organization’s communications direction while respecting community knowledge and self-determination.
Explore the Indigenous Research Circle case study
Community Action Initiative
Yulu worked with Community Action Initiative to develop communications resources supporting community responses to British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis. The work incorporated lived-experience perspectives and local context into practical tools for communicating about harm reduction and reducing stigma.
The project produced three regional toolkits and a provincial toolkit distributed to 38 Community Action Teams, connecting community-informed communications with resources designed for local use.
Explore the Community Action Initiative case study
Who We Work With
Yulu supports organizations whose initiatives depend on understanding communities, navigating complex issues and building productive relationships, including:
- Nonprofits, foundations and advocacy organizations.
- Public agencies and community-serving institutions.
- Healthcare and public health organizations.
- Universities and research initiatives.
- Coalitions and cross-sector partnerships.
- Purpose-driven businesses developing social and environmental impact programs.
Our experience connects engagement with healthcare communications, justice and community impact and behavior change communications.
Why Work With Yulu?
Yulu brings strategic communications and impact consulting together. We help organizations understand the issues and relationships shaping an initiative, then connect that understanding to program design, engagement and public-facing communications.
Our experience across public health, justice, equity and environmental issues helps us approach complex conversations with context and care. Through our Impact Communications methodology, we connect communications objectives to the social and environmental outcomes an initiative seeks to advance.
Stakeholder & Rightsholder Engagement FAQs
What does a stakeholder engagement consultant do?
A stakeholder engagement consultant helps an organization identify relevant groups, understand their perspectives and plan how to involve them in an initiative. Support can include mapping, engagement strategy, interviews, listening activities, findings analysis and communications. Yulu connects this work to the decisions, programs and relationships the engagement is intended to inform.
What is the difference between stakeholder and rightsholder engagement?
Stakeholders have an interest in, influence over or connection to an initiative. Rightsholders hold rights that may be affected by it. The distinction matters because engagement with rightsholders must account for those rights, relevant protocols and decision-making authority. Yulu’s approach recognizes these differences when planning participation and communications.
When should an organization begin community engagement?
Begin while there is still meaningful scope for community input to shape the initiative. Early engagement can help clarify priorities, identify barriers and inform program design. If decisions have already been made, explain those boundaries clearly and identify what participants can still influence.
What deliverables can an engagement project include?
Depending on the scope, deliverables can include a stakeholder and rightsholder map, engagement plan, interview guides, outreach materials, a synthesis of findings, recommendations and reporting-back communications. Yulu works with clients to define the deliverables around the decisions they need to make and the communities involved.
How does Yulu approach sensitive issues and lived experience?
Our trauma-informed engagement and communications approach prioritizes dignity, informed consent and meaningful choice. We consider how people are invited to participate, how their perspectives will be used and how to avoid unnecessary disclosure of sensitive experiences. Respectful language and clear expectations support trust throughout the process.
Does Yulu provide engagement services across Canada and the United States?
Yes. Yulu supports organizations across Canada and the United States. Engagement plans reflect the project’s location, community context and participation needs, with virtual or in-person methods selected according to the scope.
What determines the scope and cost of an engagement project?
Scope and cost depend on the number and location of participating groups, the complexity of the issues, the engagement methods, accessibility needs, timeline and required deliverables. Share your initiative, the decisions ahead and your timing so we can recommend an appropriate scope.
How do you assess whether engagement is meaningful?
Meaningful engagement considers who participated, whose perspectives were missing, the quality of participation and how input influenced decisions. Depending on the project, assessment can also examine accessibility, participant feedback and whether the organization clearly reported back on findings and next steps.
Discuss Your Engagement Project
Planning a new initiative, seeking community input or strengthening relationships with stakeholders and rightsholders?
Tell us about your project, the communities involved, the decisions you need to inform and your timeline. We’ll discuss how Yulu can support your engagement strategy and communications.
Email hello@yulupr.com or call +1 604-558-1656.