A CPRS Thought Leadership Council Masterclass Series, With Our Sponsorship Thanks to McMaster University's MCM Program
 

CERTIFICATE SERIES WITH EXPERTS REDEFINING STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE
February 5 to March 31, 2026

This six-part live and interactive online masterclass series is designed for PR and communications professionals who are ready to move from managing messages to shaping decisions.
 
It equips participants with the mindset, frameworks, and language needed to evolve from practitioner to trusted advisor — someone who can sit comfortably beside senior executives, contribute meaningfully to organizational strategy, and guide business leaders through complexity.
 
This isn’t about tools or tactics. It’s about expanding your professional reach from communicator to integrator.
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Thursday, February 5, 2026   12:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET   via Zoom
REFRAMING THE ROLE: From Department to Discipline 

• Move through ways to reframe communications as an enterprise discipline that shapes organizational direction, not just a support function.​
• Examine how communications creates and demonstrates business value across the function and the organization
• Takeaway: A practical framework to map how communications creates business value.

Thursday, February 12, 2026  12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET via Zoom
BUILDING TRUST CAPITAL: From Message to Meaning

• Explore the 2025 trust gap and how credibility is built through alignment, consistency, and listening.
• Strengthen personal trust capital by enhancing executive presence, personal brand, and credibility across business functions.
• ​Takeaway: A personal trust blueprint to build influence and credibility.

Guest Presenters: Announcing Soon!

Moderated by: Lisa Covens, MA, CAIP, MCPRS, Senior Vice President, Communications, Leger

Tuesday, February 24, 2026  12:00 PM–2:00 PM ET
MEASUREMENT: Beyond Vanity Metrics - Rethinking How Communication Creates Value

• This masterclass challenges traditional measurement approaches and focuses on how strategic thinking helps communicators understand what their work is truly achieving - for audiences and their organizations.
• Takeaway: How to think differently about measurement before, during and after communications work; and how better measurement strengthens impact, confidence and professional influence.

Guest Presenter: Amber Daugherty, MCM, Big Valley Marketing

Moderated by: Colleen Killingsworth, MCM, APR, FCPRS, MCPRS, CKCommunications Strategies

Thursday, March 12, 2026  12:00 PM–2:00 PM ET (Via Zoom)

SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP - Moving From Tactical Discussion To
Strategic Insights

• Learn how to translate communications insight into strategy, using the language of risk, value and foresight.
• The importance of listening to what the executive team is saying to you.
• Gendered art of language in leadership.
• Takeaway: A model framework for CEO and executive discussions.

 

THE CONNECTED ORGANIZATION: Collaboration As Currency

• Understand how communicators drive alignment across HR, operations, legal, and finance, and why that alignment matters
• Takeaway: A cross-functional influence playbook.

Guest Presenter: Sara Goldvine, MCM, APR, MCPRS, Chief Operating Officer, Coast Mental Health

Moderated by: Christine Szustaczek, MCM, APR, SCMP, FCPRS, MCPRS, Vice President of Communications, University of Toronto

Tuesday, March 31, 2026  12:00–2:00 PM ET (Via Zoom)
LEADING THROUGH CHANGE: Becoming Future-Ready

• Apply foresight and adaptive thinking to navigate societal, ethical, and technological transformation.
• Takeaway: Strategic foresight canvas.

Guest Presenter:
Announcing Soon!

Moderated by: Colleen Killingsworth, MCM, APR, FCPRS, MCPRS, CKCommunications Strategies

*Please note that masterclass session descriptions and takeaways may evolve with speaker preparations and confirmations.

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WHY NOW

The CPRS Thought Leadership Council's 2025 State of Public Relations study, released in October, made one truth clear: Communications and public relations have matured, but....

The opportunity ahead is sharply evident: Communicators must step into the role of sensemaker, connecting insight, ethics, data, and foresight to influence leadership decisions.

THE LEARNING PHILOSOPHY 

• Reflection
• Peer dialogue
• Applied practice
• Insights grounded in real-world executive expectations

WHO IS IT FOR 

• Communications managers, directors, and advisors preparing for or starting senior or executive roles
• Professionals seeking to strengthen their strategic voice with leadership teams or within their practice
• Agency, corporate, non-profit, government and education leaders who are ready to broaden their influence across functions
• CPRS members and non-members nationally and globally

YOUR REGISTRATION INCLUDES:

✔ Six live, highly interactive two-hour virtual sessions
✔ On-demand access to session recordings, tools, and templates—so you can reflect or catch up if you miss a session anytime
✔ A digital CPRS Leadership Masterclass Certificate of Completion
✔ Instruction from leading Canadian, internationally experienced industry experts
✔ Eligibility for 3 APR maintenance units (or equivalent for international APR registrants)
✔ Your choice of one bonus to select when you sign up, just for you:

• Complimentary registration to one Sunday workshop at the 2026 CPRS National Conference (CPRS members only; $75 value) OR
• A $50 credit toward any CPRS on-demand 2025 or 2026 course (must be purchased in 2026).

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Terms and Conditions 
 

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