Michael Povey
Managing Director

The Fifth Option was founded in 1989 by Michael Povey, an expert in human capital consulting. Michael has over 25 years of experience in maximizing the contributions of people in the workforce through effective human capital management. He has held a variety of long-term, senior management and executive positions with such high profile industry leaders as Cominco Ltd., Schlumberger Ltd., Westcoast Energy Inc. and Microtel Ltd. As the director of The Fifth Option, Michael uses his extensive experience to help companies big and small with every aspect of labor relations and human resource management.

George Coghlan
Senior Recruitment Consultant

In addition to a strong background in Marketing and Promotion, George Coghlan has in excess of 20 years experience in sourcing, recruiting, negotiating and hiring exceptional employees. George has worked as a recruiter and as a career transition counselor for MacDonald Dettwiler, BC Transit and as a independent consultant to small, medium and large firms. George brings a practical, humane and down to earth orientation to the recruiting and hiring process.

Credit: Apollo Photography

Katherine Read
Senior Consultant, Business Development

Katherine has 21 years experience working with various national and international consulting firms and as an independent consultant. She has served at the Principal and Vice President levels and worked in executive search, management consulting, business development, sales & marketing, training and development and market research. In her career she has served the needs of a diverse range of businesses from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and Crown corporations.


Katherine’s last corporate position prior to working with The Fifth Option was as Vice President and Principal of a group of three consulting firms. As Principal of an Executive Search firm and HR consultancy she served the needs of a diverse range of national and international clients wishing to find high performance candidates for mid-management to CEO level positions.

Her background in executive search led Katherine naturally into private practice as a skilled Career Transition Coach. She has worked extensively with individuals seeking to change jobs, careers or make major life transitions. Katherine is also a professional facilitator with over twelve years experience facilitating strategic planning sessions, training sessions, focus groups and industry forums.

Ms. Read has a Bachelor of Arts degree from UBC, a Diploma in Business Administration from BCIT and is a Certified Life Coach and Certified Wellness Counsellor and Life Skills Counselor and Instructor. Katherine is also a Certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTIÒ) practitioner.

Michael Hudson
Senior Consultant, Human Resources

Michael is a Human Resources generalist with over twenty years of experience gained in a variety of industries, including high-tech manufacturing, insurance, pharmaceutical, and telecommunications. Much of his expertise has come from supporting growing organizations in developing their initial HR framework, including management and employee coaching, compensation and benefit program development, performance management implementation, as well as, introducing best practices in recruitment, policies and procedures. Michael also has over ten years experience developing and implementing HR frameworks in fast growing entrepreneurial environments where the practical implementation of sound HR systems need to be both cost effective and efficient. He has also gained valuable generalist experience and collective agreement interpretation within a large public sector employer and other large complex multi-union environments, serving organizations with as many as 5000 employees.

Michael has a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Vicki Clarke
Senior Consultant, Human Resources

As an engaged Senior Human Resources Manager with a strong business acumen and over 25 years of combined human resources and business experience, Vicki has been instrumental in leading change to organizations to positively affect profitability.

Vicki has built skilled and proficient teams in both union and non-union environments and has provided on-going support, training, guidance and resources to exceed organizational objectives.

As a creative and resourceful leader with an entrepreneurial spirit, Vicki has a proven history of successful business and program start-ups.

Rita Schnarr, B.A. Adult Ed(Hons)
Senior Consultant, Training and Business Development

With more than twenty years of experience in employee and organizational development, Rita provides consulting services and information that enables business owners and executives to make better decisions regarding their people issues.

She is passionate about helping new and existing organizations create high-performing workforces through innovative human resource talent management solutions, coaching and training and development services. Rita also specializes in creating and delivering customized high-impact workshops, seminars and executive debriefs for leadership, team and employee development from start-ups to large corporations. She brings a practical solution oriented approach to help clients with the selection, productivity and profitability of their people.