About Blackthorne

Independent expertise.
Close to the work.

Blackthorne brings senior expertise and hands-on execution to public issues and organizational decisions shaped by policy, institutions and public opinion.

Our approach

Research and institutional insight, put to work.

Strong work begins with a clear view of the issue and the forces shaping it.

Influence moves through institutions, stakeholder relationships and public opinion. We identify where change can happen, what could shift it and which audiences need to be engaged. Then we develop the strategy, prepare the briefs and communications, and coordinate the outreach that puts it into practice.

Blackthorne is deliberately focused. The principals bring research, policy, government relations, public advocacy and strategic communications together around the objective of each engagement.

The principals

Complementary disciplines. Direct involvement.

Research · Policy · Public affairs

Amanda Hohmann, PhD

Over the past decade, Amanda has conceived and directed high-impact strategic advocacy and public affairs initiatives that have shaped national conversations, influenced political and institutional agendas, and driven significant policy and organizational change. Through deliberate and considered media strategy, narrative development, and targeted engagement, she has secured national and international media coverage, brought issues directly before Canada’s Parliament, provincial legislatures, and municipal governments, and successfully driven changes to university policies and institutional practices. Her work has also informed and been cited by governments and non-governmental organizations around the world.

Amanda brings a sophisticated understanding of how influence is built, how decisions are shaped, and how change is achieved. She excels at identifying strategic opportunities, anticipating the forces that drive public and institutional behaviour, and orchestrating coordinated initiatives that elevate complex issues, mobilize decision-makers, and deliver tangible results.

Government relations · Communications

Shlomo Eskenasi

Shlomo Eskenasi brings more than two decades of experience across public affairs, government relations, strategic communications and advocacy. His work has spanned ministerial offices, association advocacy, government and regulatory affairs, and communications leadership. He has helped advance priorities across health policy, education access and human-rights issues through direct advocacy, media engagement and outreach to public officials and institutions.

He created an education and training system now used by public-service organizations and first responders across Canada and the United States. His public diplomacy work has brought complex issues into the public conversation through press releases, narrative development and targeted engagement, helping shape public understanding and influence policy and institutional agendas. He brings this experience to integrated strategies that align public engagement, direct advocacy and communications around a clear objective.

A clear working model

From the wider field to coordinated action.

We map the institutions, relationships, stakeholder interests and public narratives shaping an issue. Then we set the strategy, build the case, prepare the materials and carry out the engagement that can move it forward.

Understand

Clarify the objective, the audiences and the conditions shaping the issue.

Establish

Set priorities and develop a strategy grounded in evidence and institutional realities.

Engage

Prepare the materials, build relationships and carry out public and direct engagement.

Adapt

Assess the response, refine the approach and determine the next move.

Begin with an honest conversation

The first conversation is about the issue, the timing and the fit.

Begin a conversation

Independent expertise.Close to the work.