Joe MacDonald (Program Coordinator)
A political strategist, organizer and campaign manager who served in senior positions in federal and provincial leadership campaigns and as senior staff to two Ontario cabinet ministers, Joe joined the GR program in 2014, becoming Program Coordinator in 2015. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, former Ph.D. candidate (ABD) at York University, Life Member, four-term president and director of the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC).
Hershell Ezrin
Hershell Ezrin is a leading Canadian business executive, political advisor and strategic communications consultant. He has served in the Privy Council Office under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canadian Consul in New York and Los Angeles, and as the principal secretary to Ontario Premier David Peterson.
Jeff Roach
Jeff Roach’s professional career began in 1966, and has spanned internationally in the telecommunications, political, natural resources, high tech, financial services and consulting sectors.
Michael Ras
A strategic communications and public affairs professional with experience in government relations, corporate communications, executive profiling, issue management, coalition management, and fundraising/development.
Mimi Tsui
Mimi has over 20 years of experience in communications and public relations. She has worked for Hill & Knowlton, Weber Shandwick and GCI Group. She has also spent two years at DDB Needham PR in Taipei, Taiwan. For over 13 years, she was the Manager, Branding, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs for CPA Canada.
Holly Cybulski
With over twenty years experience in the entertainment industry, concentrating her professional endeavours in communications, Holly Cybulski’s portfolio is vast. Her motto is simple, “say what you mean, and mean what you say”.
Andrew Pask
Andrew has worked as the Special Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, manager of fundraising at Canadian Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Association, and as the executive assistant to Rob Ford at Toronto City Hall.
Mary Pretotto
Mary has a decade of experience in every aspect of social media [external and internal] including content, influencer relations, community management, issues management, employee advocacy and social collaboration. I am passionate about developing teams and individuals.
Robert Waite
Building on thirty years experience advising two United States Senators and six corporate CEO's, I act as a trusted advisor to a limited number of clients on succession planning, crisis communications, Board presentations, government relations policy and strategy and communications function design.
Bill McBain
Bill is a highly effective public affairs, communications, fundraising and community engagement professional with 20 plus years of experience. He's exceptionally good at handling media and adversarial situations and have been an exceedingly successful election campaign manager with Canada-wide experience.
Amara Possian
Amara is a leading campaigner and digital engagement specialist with over a decade of experience bringing people together to take collective action. She has worked with universities and advocacy groups, run political campaigns, run for office, and built organizations. She managed Vote Together, Leadnow's groundbreaking 2015 election campaign, which integrated digital tools with deep field organizing to mobilize tens of thousands of people to vote for change.
Former Faculty
Judy Pfeifer
As a respected and innovative public relations leader I build infrastructure. Both the traditional physical structures serving communities but also the teams and functions that are needed to enable organizations to execute on strategic goals.
Michael Edwards
Michael has led digital and creative strategy for a major political campaign, the digital practice at a communications firm, and gained direct marketing experience as an account strategist at boutique advertising agency. He also founded Adrenaline Digital, an award-winning digital engagement agency.
Blair Peberdy
Blair Peberdy established and led Toronto Hydro’s communications, government relations and marketing group as Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs. He is an Accredited Member and Member of the College of Fellows of CPRS and serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ethics and Corporate Policy; the Communications and Public Relations Foundation, and the Ontario Energy Network.
Dr. Peter Constantinou
Dr. Peter Constantinou is an award winning university teacher and one of Canada’s leading practitioner-academics. Dr. Constantinou has worked at senior levels in the federal and provincial governments, as both civil servant and political advisor, and, as a lobbyist in the college and university sector.
Martin Waxman
Martin develops and leads custom-tailored social media, online crisis and content marketing sessions, and workshops that provide people with the understanding and tools they need to successfully achieve business goals.
Terence Young
Terence Young is a former Conservative MP and MPP.
