Events

Join us May 25th for our Annual General Meeting, at 11:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Hotel.

We invite you to learn more about our nominees:

Board Nominees 2010/11
Biographies

Lea Werthman, APR
Nominated Position: Secretary
Lea Werthman is an accredited Public Relations
practitioner, experienced communicator and educator with over 30 years of experience in strategic and crisis communications, marketing, project management, media, public and community relations. Lea has worked in both the private and public sectors, running her own consulting firm and teaching at Algonquin College in their award-winning two-year Public Relations program. Lea currently works as an employee engagement, branding and change management specialist in Service Canada’s marketing division.

Scott Drover
Nominated Position: Treasurer
Scott Drover is currently employed as a Communications Consultant at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) where he advises CMHC’s Insurance and International business lines. Scott has an undergraduate degree in Commerce from Mount Allison University and a MBA from McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. Prior to joining CMHC, Scott worked in a variety of positions for several different financial institutions, as the Manager, Planning and Development for the charitable organization MBAs Without Borders and as a Communications Strategist for the RCMP. Originally from New Brunswick, Scott has lived in Ottawa since 2002 and remains active in a number of sports leagues
throughout the year.

Joan Wright
Nominated Position: Membership
Joan Wright joined the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport as a communications officer after completing two diplomas – public relations and television broadcasting – from Algonquin College. During her time at Algonquin, Joan served on the Students’ Association Board of Directors for three years, in the capacity of director and then president. The Students’ Association board advocates and practices John Carver’s Policy Governance model. This gave Joan the opportunity to hone her process-driven outlook while developing her astuteness for policy development. Joan hails from Jamaica originally, and came to Canada on a student visa after Googling to find television broadcasting courses. She has a degree in history from the University of the West Indies which fostered her relentlessly analytical viewpoint, as well as her goal to gain life experiences residing and learning outside her native country. She has lived and worked in a variety of geographical locations, including New York and London, England.

Vincent White
Nominated Position:Member-at-Large: Government Relations
Vincent White is the Government relations Liaison for the CNW Group, a global leader in news and information distribution services for professional communicators. Vincent joined CNW in 2008 as an Account Representative in his native Montreal, and was recently promoted to his current government relations role out of Ottawa. His duties now consist of bridging the gap between CNW’s products and services with federal communicators, and informing them on industry trends and best practices. Prior to joining CNW Group, Vincent worked as an Account Manager for Xerox Canada. This
experience was particularly rewarding for him, having gone through each step of the organization’s well known rigorous sales training program. In the summer of 2003, he also acted as the Media/Public Relations Coordinator for Baseball Canada and was responsible for promoting its national programs to the media. Most recently, he was the lead communications coordinator for the SQPRP’s fifth annual PARLE PARLE JASE JASE symposium. Vincent holds a B.Sc. in Political Science from the Université de Montréal and is intending to enroll in a graduate program at the University of Ottawa beginning in 2011.
An avid traveler, Vincent has traveled to nearly twenty countries and is on his way to visit more. A former New York Mets draft pick. He enjoys cottage life in the summer and skiing in the winter…with a little hockey of course!

Melissa Nisbett
Nominated Position: Member-at-Large
Melissa Nisbett is a graduate from Carleton University’s School of Journalism. She specializes in not for profit communications and gained her experience working for Franciscans International, a human rights organization at the United Nations in Geneva,Switzerland. During her stint abroad, she had the chance to meet and interview many human rights activists as well as travel to France, Spain and Italy. She has worked for CTV Ottawa, Ottawa Police Service and the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD), based at Carleton University. Melissa currently works for Tree Canada, Canada’s largest tree planting not for profit, organizing events and delivering communications programs for the organization’s sponsors. She joined CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau in 2009 and contributed to communications team for the “From Good to Great” mini conference in February 2010. In her spare time, Melissa is an avid reader and yoga enthusiast, and is learning the ropes on urban gardening.

Émilie Girard-Ruel
Nominated Position: Member-at-Large
Émilie Girard-Ruel is a strategic communications professional with over 10 years experience in international financial public relations in the public and private sectors. She holds a B.A. in Public Communications from Laval University and a professional certificate in Business Communication
Management from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, where she is currently enrolled in a part-time MBA program. On the professional front, she is currently the Communications Manager for the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a Crown corporation that acts as Canada’s international contracting and procurement agency. Previously, she worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution in London, NATO, Desjardins International Development, the Business Development Bank of Canada, as well as the Quebec Ministry for Research, Science and Technology, and the Ministry for Industry and Commerce. She hopes to apply her understanding of strategic communications planning and stakeholder relations to her engagement with the CPRS Ottawa Chapter.