Founders Coffee: Tracey Maconachie – Government Funding: The 10-Minute Briefing

The Speaker

Tracey Maconachie is a keynote speaker and leadership coach, and the founder of 321 Tipping Point. Her keynote, Diary of a Flawed Leader, is built on what she got right, what she got wrong, and the discipline it took to tell the difference. Tracey spent 35 years leading across government, industry, and the not-for-profit sector. As Deputy Minister of Economic Development, she managed billion-dollar portfolios, advised on major funding decisions at the provincial level, and sat in the rooms where the money moved. She knows what funders are looking for because she was the one making those calls. Today, Tracey works with leaders and organizations navigating complexity, building the kind of credibility and clarity that gets results when the stakes are real.

The Talk

Most business owners know government funding exists. Fewer know how to access it. And almost no one talks about what funders are actually looking for when they decide where the money goes. Tracey Maconachie has spent decades working with government funding, on both sides of the table. As a former Deputy Minister of Economic Development, she managed a billion-dollar portfolio, advised on major funding decisions, and saw firsthand why applications succeed or fail for entirely preventable reasons. She has also watched as often, businesses with real potential walked away from funding they were eligible for because the process felt too complicated or too opaque. This is the fast version. In 10 minutes, Tracey will cover what government funders are evaluating, the mistakes that cost applicants before they even get to the table, and the simplest shifts that put your application in a stronger position. No jargon. No theory. Just the view from someone who’s been on both sides of the decision.