Nominees standing for election to the National Board of Directors
Six (6) CPRS National Members have been nominated to fill four (4) Director positions on the National Board effective June 7, 2009. An election to choose the four Directors will be conducted at the CPRS Annual General Meeting (AGM) being held in Vancouver, British Columbia. The newly elected Directors will join the 12-member Board to serve three-year terms. Four Directors will serve their remaining one-year term and four will serve their remaining two-year term.
A ballot, for those who do not plan to attend the AGM, will be mailed to all voting Members at least thirty (30) days prior to the AGM.
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Esther Buchsbaum APR, FCPRS
Esther Buchsbaum, APR, FCPRS has over 25 years of public relations experience specializing in corporate communications strategy and development, crisis, issues and reputation management and stakeholder and franchise relations. As well, she has a particular core competency in the negotiation, development and implementation of cause marketing initiatives. Esther has provided PR counsel to such clients as Avon, ADT, Samsung, Hilton Canada, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, The Orlando/Orange County CVB, Uniroyal, Sunbeam, Ericsson Communications, Burger King Canada and BenQ Canada to name but a few. In her role as senior counsel for the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Esther sat on a global crisis communications committee to develop communications strategies to deal with hurricanes, Hepatitis A, SARS and the increasing number of crimes against foreign travelers. In her capacity as counsel to Hilton Canada, Esther was instrumental in the development of the communications strategy to address the aftermath of 911 and its impact on the Travel and Tourism industry. Esther is an accredited member of CPRS and was recently admitted to The College of Fellows. She is the Canadian Representative on the Executive Committee of the Public Relations Society of America's Counselor's Academy and was the first Canadian to Chair the organization’s Spring Conference in Los Cabo, Mexico. She is a member of IABC, the Travel Media Association of Canada and the Society of American Travel Writers and is a regular guest lecturer at McGill University's MBA program. Esther holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science. She is active in community affairs and serves on several Boards of Directors including the Executive Committee of the Montreal Holocaust Museum.
Donna Christopher, APR
Ms. Christopher is currently employed with Environment Canada as a Senior Communications Advisor. She has more than 18 years of experience in public relations and has worked in the private, not-for-profit and government sectors. Through these various roles, Donna has developed strong skills in a number of key areas such as media relations, issues management, internal communications, social marketing, finance and human relations. Donna received her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2008 and has a Bachelor of Arts (English) from Dalhousie University (1988) and a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University (1991). She has been a member of CPRS since 1988, first as a student and then as a full member in 1991. Since that time, she has been very active in her local Nova Scotia chapter and served on the Board of Directors in the role of Professional Development Chair for five years, followed by a two-year term as President. During her time as President her key accomplishments included ensuring that public relations students were more actively involved in the local chapter, as well as expanding the Nova Scotia Gemstones Awards to an Atlantic-wide event. Donna has also always been very active in the community and has served on the Board of Directors of her local curling club, as well as on the Board of the Atlantic Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. She has also volunteered and served on public relations committees for events and organizations such as the Bluenose International Marathon, the MS Society, the Nokia Brier, and the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Martine Dorval APR, FCPRS
A member of the Canadian Public Relations Society’s College of Fellows, and holding a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Bachelor’s in Communications, Martine Dorval has accumulated 30 years of professional experience in the communications field, 12 years serving as a partner and consultant with National Public Relations and five years with Optimum-Cossette. In addition, her background includes some 10 years in strategic and operations management. Martine has also acquired considerable expertise in corporate governance and ethics, having sat on the Boards of numerous non-profit organizations and completed specialized training at the Institute for Governance of Public and Private Organizations. In 2004-2005, she served as President of Société des relationnistes du Québec (SQPRP) and Member of the Board of CPRS’s Board of Directors. She also is a former member of the Société des relationnistes du Québec’s Board of Directors (2002-2006) Her contribution has been regularly recognized by CPRS and SQPRP. Under her leadership, in 2004-2005, Quebec’s chapter won the Lutrin Award presented by the CPRS. She also is recipient of Équinoxe Grand Prize presented by the Société des relationnistes du Québec for the 35th edition of the WorldSkills Competition and recipient of CPRS Awards of Distinction for three projects: Parliamentary Institutions Bicentennial; 35th WorldSkills Competition; opening of the flagship Famous Players Paramount Theater. Actually working as an independent consultant and teaching Public Relations, at Université du Québec à Montréal, Martine has occupied the position of Director of Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Loto-Québec (2003-2008). In that role, her responsibilities included strategic planning, issue and crisis management, providing expert counsel to senior management, conducting image and public perception research, internal and external communications, digital communications, and sustainable development (social responsibility). Read more : www.martinedorval.com
Sean W. Kelly, APR
Sean graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts (1985) and a Bachelor of Education (1986). He is presently working towards a Masters Degree in Political Science from Memorial University. He received his accreditation in PR (APR) in 2002. Sean joined the senior management team at the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board in December 2006. Prior to that, he had a successful 20-year career in the Newfoundland and Labrador public service. Sean was an advisor to the Premier’s Round Table on Environment and Economy and an advisor to the Joint National and Provincial Round Tables Task Force on Sustainable Marine Environments and Coastal Communities. He chaired several intergovernmental committees on environmental education and communications. Sean is also a part-time public relations instructor at the College of the North Atlantic. He has held the position of President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS-NL) since 2002. He served on the National CPRS Task Force on Recruitment and Retention. He led the team that drafted the CPRS-NL Submission to the Cameron Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing. He also led the organizing committee for a very successful CPRS mini-conference in St. John’s in 2005. Sean has been a speaker at several conferences, including the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environmental Education and Communications (Eco-Ed). On two separate occasions, he was part of a team nominated for the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Service Award for Excellence - (i) Emergency Measures Response to the 9-11 Terrorists Attacks on the USA; and (ii) Development of media relations training for senior government officials.
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Richard Truscott, APR
Mr. Truscott is owner and principal of Trusco Consulting in Calgary and has more than 16 years of experience in communications and public relations. In addition to receiving his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2007, Richard has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Calgary (1990) and a Masters in Business Administration from Queen’s University (2002). Over the course of his career, he has gained extensive experience in a broad range of public, private, and non-profit organizations and companies operating in a variety of industries. Richard is an active member of the public relations community, serving as CPRS Calgary’s membership director in 2005/06, president in 2006/07, past president in 2007/08, and director-at-large with the current board. For the past four years, he has also chaired the CPRS National Membership Recruitment and Retention Committee and led the development and launch of a number of new national membership initiatives, most notably the National Member Survey, the Member Referral Program and the National Student Membership Program. Richard serves on a number of non-profit and community boards, including the Impact Society, the Communications Advisory Board for the Federation of Calgary Communities, the SAIT Journalism Advisory Board, and the Springbank Hill Community Association.
Christina Winsor, APR
Ms. Winsor was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2008 to serve a one-year term to replace Rod Stanley, APR who stepped down. During this time, she was the Board Champion on the Professional Development Committee and the Membership and Recruitment Committee and played a key role in the redevelopment of the CPRS website. She is a director of communications with the New Brunswick Government and is located in Fredericton, NB. Having worked in the private and public sectors, her areas of expertise include issues management, strategic communications, internal communications, marketing, leadership communications and HR PR. Ms. Winsor received her APR in 2007 and has been actively involved in CPRS at both the local and national level in a variety of roles including President of CPRS-NB and Chair of the National Professional Development Committee, as well as participating in the Communications and PR Committee, the Awards of Excellence and the Gemstone Awards in Atlantic Canada. Her work with the Government of New Brunswick has been recognized by the CPRS Awards of Excellence and the CPRS Atlantic Gemstone Awards.