Neil Maccarthy Email & Phone Number

Toronto, On, Ca

Toronto

The pope holds a press conference, a church is vandalized, volunteers open their hearts and homes for refugees. All in a day's work. Never predictable, always an adventure.Some call it an international organization with offices in every country worldwide and membership of over a billion. Welcome to the Catholic Church.I lead a great team of communication pros who tell the story of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Toronto. That translates to overseeing public & media relations, corporate communications and government relations for the Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada's largest diocese with 1.9 million Catholics and 225 Catholic churches. On any given day I'm traveling with Archbishop Francis Leo, serving as press secretary, media spokesperson, mediator, crisis firefighter or smiling host at major events.Never boring or dull, wherever the church intersects in the public square, I tend to be in the mix. It's been an honour and pleasure to serve in the role for close to two decades. I strive to support those around me and serve as a credible and enthusiastic leader, doing it all with a smile, kind word and sense of humour.

Canada

It was an honour to serve as the Senior Lead - Communications for the historic 2022 Papal Visit to Canada. I was seconded to this role with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops after co-ordinating media relations for the Indigenous Delegation to Rome, meeting with Pope Francis in March/April 2022. My responsibilities for the communications portfolio included oversight of the following:1) Strategic Communication/Rapid Response2) Media Relations3) Communications Lead with Host Broadcaster and Holy See Press Office (Vatican)4) Social Media/Website5) Translation/Interpretation6) Management of Communications Staff/VolunteersI was privileged to lead a team of 10 full-time communications staff as well as more than 30 volunteers who assisted our communication efforts in so many different ways. This international event also involved extensive outreach and liaison with Indigenous partners as well as daily interaction with various levels of government (federal, provincial, municipal). The 2022 Papal Visit to Canada was also unique in that it was planned with an extremely short window of less than six months (most visits are provided between 12 and 18 months planning). The visit included more than 500 accredited international and local journalists covering the event. The historic visit from Pope Francis served as a significant moment in the ongoing journey of healing, reconciliation and hope with Indigenous Peoples, most notably survivors of residential schools, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and those who support them.

Toronto

Quietly getting the job done and helping more than 200,000 people each year, ShareLife is an incredible charity. I had the privilege of directing their communication efforts for close to a decade.It's a busy office with passionate staff. I was responsible for overall communications: messaging, resources and media relations on a $14 million annual fundraising campaign.This included lots of writing, working with designers, printers, managing staff and prepping a direct mail campaign sent to more than 300,000 homes.It was a great chapter in my work career to serve as Communications Manager and spokesperson for one of Toronto's largest charitable organizations.