New Nominees for 2011

Lucie-Anne Fabien, APR, FCPRS

Mrs. Fabien has been involved with the CPRS for the past 17 years, including 11 years at the provincial level and 6, at the National level. On the Board of the Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques (SQPRP) from 1994 to 2005, she has been in charge of most Board committees. She chaired the SQPRP in 2003-2004. Her efforts were rewarded with the SCRP Membership Award when she chaired that Committee in 2001, and the CPRS Lectern Award, for the best chapter in Canada when she was the provincial chairperson. She has been on the CPRS National board since 2005 and solicits and third consecutive mandate.

 

Professional with the City of Montreal’s Communications Service for the past 5 years, Mrs. Fabien also teaches Public Relations to executives in UQAM’s MBA program for executives since 2003. Accredited trainer with Québec’s Employment Department, she also gives training and coaching and lectures on public relations in national and international conferences. Mrs. Fabien has 25 years of experience, mostly in public sector organizations and some 6 years as a consultant for various industries.

Angela Murray

Angela currently serves on CPRS’s PR/Communications Committee. She was co-chair of the program committee for 2008 National CPRS conference held in Halifax. Proceeds from this conference enabled CPRS Nova Scotia to start a scholarship program for public relations students studying in Nova Scotia. She has served on the CPRS Nova Scotia Board since 2006 in the roles of Professional Development Chair, vice-president, president and past president. With over 20 years experience as a public relations practitioner, Angela has spent the last decade providing her expertise for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU), developing, managing and implementing public relations programs for 10,900-member professional association representing public school and Community College teachers in Nova Scotia. Her work with the NSTU has been recognized by the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education and the Canadian Educational Press Association. She has extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector having worked for organizations that include Neptune Theatre, Clean Nova Scotia, and Discovery Centre. She has also served as a board member and chair of Jest in Time Theatre and received a volunteer service award from the Nova Scotia Professional Theatre Alliance for her work with Jest in Time. She also served on the Board of the Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Dalhousie University, a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and will begin studying toward a Master of Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University in the fall. Angela was a student member of CPRS Nova Scotia from 1987 to 1991, and before joining as a member in 2003 has taken full advantage of the professional development sessions the chapter has offered over the past 25 years. The first CPRS National Conference she experienced was in the 70s, when her father served as National President

 

Rashpal Rai

Rashpal has over 10 years of experience in public relations and communications, primarily in the corporate sector and public-private partnerships. As public relations manager for the AirCare vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program, he is responsible for all aspects of public relations and communications, including media, government, and community relations, and maintaining ongoing relationships with internal and external stakeholders. He has been a member of CPRS since 1999, and was a student member with CPRS Vancouver Island. He served as Treasurer for CPRS Vancouver in 2007/08 and in 2009/2011. He served as Conference Vice-Chair and Finance Chair for the CPRS 2009 National Conference – On the Edge held in Vancouver.

Rashpal also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the B.C. SCRAP-IT Program Society, a B.C. vehicle scrappage program.

A native of Victoria, BC, Rashpal graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.

Lawrence J. Stevenson, APR

Lawrence Stevenson has had a varied career in the Public Relations industry. Since February 2009, Lawrence has held the role of Senior Manager, Business Transformation Communications in the Enterprise Services Cluster of the Ontario Ministry of Government Services where he leads internal communications, change management and professional development activities in information technology. Previous roles include Senior Account Manager at Torchia Communications, Director of Corporate Communications for a clinical research company, Manager, Campaign Relations for a leading Canadian charity, as well as Media Relations Officer for a leading-edge provincial health services research organization. His experience is in strategic communication, media relations, government relations, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications and issues management.

Lawrence is an accredited member of the Canadian Public Relations Society achieving the distinction in 2006. Lawrence joined the Board of CPRS Toronto in 2006 as Treasurer and was elected President of the Society in April 2007 through 2009. Lawrence continues to serve on the Toronto Board until May 2011 as Immediate Past President and Chair, CEO Awards Committee. In addition, Lawrence has volunteered as a CPRS mentor and as the Co-Chair of Judges for the Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Awards. He was recently honoured as the CPRS Toronto PR Professional of the Year for 2011.

Lawrence has served as a volunteer board member for various arts and sporting organizations in Toronto.

Sandra Thornton APR, FCPRS

Sandra’s career in communications spans over 25 years - most recently as an independent communications consultant.

As Director of Corporate Communications for Stantec from 2001 - 2009, Sandra had company-wide responsibility for corporate relations, media relations, community investment, investor relations communications, acquisition communications, internal communications, policy, and ecommunications. Prior to joining Stantec, Sandra was Manager of Communications, Information & Administration Services (1996 – 2001) at the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP) where she served on the senior management team and led a team that planned, developed, implemented, and evaluated strategic communication programs. From 1994 to 1996 Sandra was Associate Director, Athabasca University Educational Enterprises and from 1989 to 1994 Sandra was Client Services Director for Reynolds, Mirth, Richards and Farmer (RMRF), an Edmonton-based law firm. Sandra held various roles in Corporate Communications with the City of Edmonton from 1982 - 1989.

Sandra received her APR in 1999 and was appointed to the College of Fellows in 2011. She teaches for MacEwan University and the University of Victoria and sits on the Board of Directors of the Edmonton YMCA.