I founded Understory Communications with my business partner Jeff Jurmain after embarking on a successful solo freelance career in 2017. My experience includes 18 years at PR agencies, including 15 at Edelman Canada, where I supported a diverse range of B2B and B2C clients in addition to Edelman’s top executives with both internal and external communications. At Understory, we bring a wide breadth of experience, journalistic storytelling and an external lens to each project. Consider us extensions of your team!

Current and past clients include: Ryerson University, Purolator Canada, Edelman Canada, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Weber Shandwick, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Broad Reach Communications, The Roundtable, AlayaCare Home Healthcare, MD Financial Management, Daisley PR, Next PR, Levitt Lightman Dewar & Graham LLP, InnerSpace, Foster Interactive Inc., OCAD University, Zeno Group

• Developed and oversaw national communications efforts and employee engagement initiatives. Provided strategic communications counsel and developed materials to support the Canadian senior leadership team, including the president, CFO, HR and general managers across all five of Edelman’s Canadian offices.• Directly supported the president on all internal and external presentations and company-wide communications. Recent examples include: communicating leadership changes to staff; acquisition planning; Q1 all-staff town hall presentations; profile-raising initiatives (Globe and Mail Leadership Lab articles, Global Women’s Executive Network speaking engagements, board member applications, speeches, newsletters, external employee engagement best practice presentations, CSR thought leadership discussions, etc.) • Liaised with Edelman’s head office in New York and with colleagues across Canada and throughout the global network to ensure best practices and streamlined implementation of firm-wide initiatives, including the recent global roll-out of Facebook at Work • Identified and supported ongoing marketing initiatives for the firm, including profiling opportunities for new hires and promotion of Edelman Intellectual Property (such as the world-renowned Trust Barometer). • Oversaw employee engagement committee budgets and provide strategic counsel as required. • Curated and edited two monthly internal newsletters for Toronto and Canada. • Used several platforms to communicate both internally and externally, including WordPress, MailChimp and Campaign Monitor. Manage Canadian content for a variety of social media accounts.

Created the position of senior manager, Editorial Services in 2008 after identifying a business need for the role in Toronto. Provided editorial excellence across all practices and sectors at Edelman Toronto on a wide variety of materials including corporate newsletters, press releases, key messages, core stories, speeches, broadcast scripts, annual reports, website copy, white papers, brochures, matte stories, by-lined articles and new business proposals and presentations. Clients included: Intuit Canada, Kobo, eBay, BlackBerry, Autodesk, AMD, TELUS, GTAA, Kraft Canada, Alliance Tire Professionals (Michelin), Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Indigo Books & Music, President’s Choice, Parmalat Canada, and Unilever.

Provided comprehensive account management, strategy development, editorial support, client counsel and issues management for a number of top-tier clients. Directly contributed to account expansion and helped secure several new business wins, including employee engagement initiatives for Alliance Tire Professionals (Michelin) and internal newsletter development for Parmalat Canada.

Responsible for B2B and B2C program development and execution on behalf of clients including Allianz Canada, First Canadian Place, International Council of Shopping Centers and Vidal Sassoon. Provided event, media relations and editorial support for conventions and retail launches; maintained media database; organized satellite/newswire distribution; and coordinated translation for media materials.

Work experience on a variety of accounts including Second Cup, Swiss Chalet, Tropicana Canada, LG Electronics and Black & Decker. Responsible for writing and editing press releases, radio scripts, management bios and website news briefs; organized extensive co-promotion opportunities with media outlets across the country; produced a corporate video for Second Cup’s annual convention.

(Formerly Ontario Power Technologies)Lead writer for the employee newsletter Currently. Produced a variety of internal documents including technical fact sheets, company-wide correspondence and promotional material; provided internal event support and marketing assistance.