About the Alliance
In a world where competition in business is the name of the game, the Archaeology for Good Alliance focuses on cooperation. Archaeology is facing unprecedented challenges due to a shortage of qualified working field directors and permit holders. Amanda Marshall, Principal and Owner of Kleanza Consulting Ltd. and Margarita de Guzman, Managing Director and CEO of Circle CRM Group Inc. have collaborated to create this strategic alliance – through the sharing of people, equipment and resources – to support the work of employees, clients and partners. And both leaders welcome like-minded companies to join the Alliance and work to create a robust, sustainable, ethical and compassionate archaeological future for everyone.
alliance mission
1. Follow UNDRIP and DRIPA guidelines
2. Assist and provide capacity for Indigenous communities regarding management of their cultural heritage.
3. Work together cooperatively to respond to archaeological needs in Western Canada.
4. Decolonize our practice through inclusion, early consultation and transparency.
5. Support First Nation’s goals for heritage sovereignty
6. Do excellent and ethical work in our fields of expertise
alliance benefits
1. Provide a safe space for like-minded professionals and organizations to do good work and showcase what makes them stand out in the field of BC Archaeology.
2. Create an alliance of professionals who lead by a similar set of values and ethics, to share resources during these unprecedented times where we are all experiencing a shortage of qualified workers.
3. Support all our teams with a wide range of experiences to grow in their careers.
4. Offer an opportunity for professional networking outside of the BCAPA.
5. Highlight, recognize and celebrate partners, teams and projects on this website.
About our founders
Amanda Marshall
Owner & Principal, Kleanza Consulting Ltd.
Based out of our Terrace office, Amanda is the owner and founder of Kleanza. With 23+ years of experience, she is an approved permit-holding archaeologist and Field Director in Coastal BC; Interior BC; Northeastern BC (sub-boreal); Yukon, as well as a certified RISC Instructor. Her specializations lie in education and training; permitting and policy; dendrochronology and Culturally Modified Trees (CMT’s) and project management. Amanda oversees quality assurance, quality control, senior review, and stakeholder engagement for all projects, as well as directing contracts, heritage permitting and policy initiatives. She has extensive experience working closely with government agencies, municipalities, and First Nations on development projects and environmental assessments, including archaeological impact assessments (AIAs), archaeological overview assessments (AOAs), preliminary field reconnaissance surveys (PFRs), and traditional use studies (TUS).
After graduating with her BA in Anthropology in 1998, she enrolled in a Masters in Archaeology program at Simon Fraser University where she researched the role culturally modified trees had to play in early and historical indigenous societies in northern BC. She then worked for several corporate cultural resource management firms before launching Kleanza in 2009. Amanda learned early on in her career that doing archaeology in an ethical manner involved building relationships with Indigenous communities, that were based on respect and inclusiveness. This, in turn, earned their trust and made each project a joyful and successful experience. She founded Kleanza based on those values and has spent her career encouraging and supporting others to do the same.
Outreach and allyship are priorities for her, and you can catch Amanda co-hosting the podcast Dig This, now in its 4th season. Inspired by so many First Nations colleagues, friends and acquaintances, as they fight daily to save the environment, save their culture, and to be inspiring for younger generations, Amanda supports Indigenous Communities in any way that she can.
Margarita de Guzman
Managing Director & CEO, Circle CRM Group
Margarita has over 20 years of extensive archaeological experience and knowledge in all services related to historical resource consulting. She is an approved permit-holding archaeologist in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Margarita has managed many large-scale HRIAs and HRIMs throughout her consulting career and recorded numerous historic resource sites. Her experience includes field assessments and mitigations for projects ranging from small-scale oil and gas to Class I pipelines and Forestry Management Areas, as well as infrastructure, power, residential/industrial subdivisions, and other developments in the private and public sectors.
A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Durham University (UK), Margarita holds degrees in Archaeology and Economics. Her Master’s studies involved relational artifact analysis of three central European sites in Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Upon completing her studies, Margarita spent five years working in Europe on a variety of archaeology sites, including an Iron Age hillfort in Schwarzenbach, Austria, a complex Roman bath site in Grumentum, Italy and an Urartu fortress outside Yerevan, Armenia, as well as numerous sites throughout southern England. Margarita also founded and co-directed the SVG Public Archaeology Program, a non-profit rescue excavation on the Caribbean Island of St. Vincent. With the help of a select team, she completed two seasons of public excavations.
Almost 15 years on, Circle has grown from a group of one to a group of many, with a roster of over 35 archaeologists living and working throughout BC and Alberta. She credits her success to hard work and perseverance instilled by her family, but also her roots in retail and snowboarding, where she learned the importance of treating people right and loving your job.