Parry's Approach
From Cybersecurity to Food Security
The focus changed, but the work did not.
In both arenas, Parry looks at the whole system, identifies risks and gaps, brings together people who rarely work together, and builds practical ways forward. Once you understand the pieces, how they connect or fail to connect, and what everyone is trying to accomplish, moving from one arena to another is easier than it may appear.
It is less about technology versus food and more about understanding needs, what is meeting them and what is not.
Examining what already works is essential. It provides the foundation for designing new pieces, improving connections, identifying gaps and filling them. But none of that succeeds without buy-in.
Key stakeholders must recognize that the current system is not reaching its full potential, believe that something better is possible, and understand that they have a role in shaping it. They need hope that the effort will improve their situation, not simply create more work.
Every system also includes people who resist change or do not yet see the need for it. They may fear added costs, a steep learning curve or more work without measurable results. Some are overwhelmed by what is already failing. Others prefer the way things have always been done.
They cannot be ignored or worked around. They need to be identified, included and listened to carefully. Their concerns often reveal weaknesses others have missed. Addressing them makes the system more cohesive, better designed and more likely to work.
From Complex Challenges to Practical Solutions
There is an old saying about eating an elephant: you begin with a single bite.
Complex challenges are no different.
Parry starts simply. She identifies the stakeholders, recognizing that the loudest voices are not always the most important to the inquiry. She approaches people within each group, asks questions and listens to those closest to the issue.
She separates assumptions from reality, identifies what already works, and begins developing solutions people can understand, adopt and use. Bite by bite, patterns emerge and gaps become visible.
The work does not begin with a major announcement, a media campaign or a flood of advertising. It begins person to person, finding the people others trust, learning from them and bringing them to the table. Those trusted voices help shape the solution, test it and build confidence in what comes next.
Understanding the Power of Community
Community is where it starts.
When things are working, people let you know. When they are not, they let you know louder and more often.
Many strategists see community as an audience. They market to it, sell to it and measure its response. What they often miss is its real power.
Community is your ear to the ground. It is what people say when you are not in the room. It reveals what they value, what frustrates them, what they trust and what they reject.
When people are genuinely engaged, community becomes a live focus group. It provides continuous insight, tests assumptions, exposes gaps and helps shape better solutions.
It is also your research and development department.
People see possibilities, identify unmet needs and maintain wish lists based on their own experience. They compare what you are planning or building with what others are already doing. They spot trends and patterns, flag emerging problems and alert you when a new opportunity appears.
They are an early-warning system for what matters.
Community is also a source of volunteers, expertise and leadership.
Parry has always aimed high, taking on difficult projects with global reach in new landscapes shaped by emerging and often unique risks. Unless that work was sponsored by a major technology company, entertainment leader, corporate partner or government, she usually built it on a shoestring.
That made an engaged volunteer community invaluable.
Parry built the world’s first cybersafety and help organization entirely online. It grew to include 16,000 volunteers in 76 countries because she found people who recognized the problem and wanted to become part of the solution.
At one point, professional auditors examined WiredSafety’s operations and calculated what it would have cost to hire people with the same time and expertise contributed by its volunteers. The value exceeded $3 million a year, all donated and all managed virtually.
Her Cybersafety India program was also created entirely through online community-building. Using LinkedIn, she identified experts and trusted voices across India and invited them to help develop a uniquely Indian cybersafety program, one designed to meet the needs of Indian families in a relevant and respectful way.
They create projects.
Her sold-out PEI Cooks at Home cookbook was also created entirely online through her 21,000-member PEI Good Eats Facebook community.
Home cooks contributed recipes, shared their stories and helped celebrate and promote Island cooking. Seventy-nine contributors provided 150 recipes, personal photographs and memories, some submitting recipes written on the back of a grocery receipt.
They commented on and improved one another’s recipes, helped spread the word when the book was published, and even introduced it to potential vendors.
Now, members of the community are helping shape the next book, Preserving PEI.
Building, supporting and continually feeding her communities is what distinguishes Parry from many other strategists.
She does not treat community as the last step in a process.
She begins there.
PEI Food Strong: Building a More Inclusive and Resilient System
PEI Food Strong applies that approach to Prince Edward Island’s food sector, connecting households, farmers, fishers, producers, retailers, institutions, organizations and government to identify gaps and build greater local resilience.
PEI Food Strong grew from a simple observation: Prince Edward Island has extraordinary food, skilled producers and deeply rooted food traditions, but the people and organizations within the system are not always well connected. Too many opportunities were being missed.
Farmers, fishers, producers, retailers, the hospitality industry, institutions, community organizations and Island households often face the same pressures from different directions. Rising costs, changing markets, gaps in infrastructure, fragile supply chains and limited access to local food affect the entire system, yet responses are often developed, at best, one sector at a time.
PEI Food Strong looks at the whole picture.
It begins by identifying what already exists, what is working, where the gaps are and which connections are missing. It brings together people who grow, catch, make, sell, cook and share food, along with retailers, the hospitality industry, institutions, community organizations, those who shape policy and those who deliver services and support communities.
It connects Down East with Up West, Up East with Anne’s Land, the South Shore with the North Shore, and Charlottetown, Summerside and Montague with communities across the Island.
It supports new businesses, farms and products, helping people find partners, reach new markets and build stronger, more visible brands. It helps them understand how to establish and grow a food business, create an online presence and make practical use of digital tools.
That support can include food-safety classes and plain-language walk-throughs of requirements involving inspections, licensed kitchens, farm-stand sales and other parts of operating a food business. It is practical help understanding what questions to ask, which requirements may apply and where to find reliable answers.
PEI Food Strong is also creating multistakeholder apps and other tools designed to connect more parts of the food system.
They will help visitors discover Island food experiences, make it easier for families to find fresh local food and connect growers with chefs, retailers and the hospitality industry. They will also share recipes and promote workshops, classes and events that help Islanders return to the kitchen and create food communities for newcomers, seniors and young people.
The goal is not to replace good work already underway. It is to identify it, connect it, strengthen it and make it easier for people to participate and succeed.
PEI Cooks builds community around Island cooking, food knowledge and shared experience while collaborating with other food communities. Its work has included the community-created PEI Cooks at Home cookbook, weekly newspaper columns and cooking workshops in community halls.
PEI Good Eats, its 21,000-plus-member Facebook home-cooking community, brings people from across PEI, Canada and the world together to celebrate Island food legacies, prized recipes and cooking ideas.
Together, PEI Cooks and PEI Good Eats show the approach in action. They connect Island home cooks, local food businesses, producers and consumers while creating practical ways to share knowledge, promote local food and understand what people need.
PEI Food Strong builds on those relationships and insights to support broader work in food resilience, preservation, distribution, food skills, local purchasing and community participation. It builds coalitions and supports other community groups working toward similar goals.
A stronger food system is not built by one organization or sector. It depends on the people within it understanding how their work connects, recognizing what is possible and helping design what comes next.
That is the system PEI Food Strong is working to build: more connected, more inclusive and more resilient, with community at its core.