CORPORATE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Designing and administering a strategic corporate community involvement program
Megan Lorius

Navigating corporate community involvement globally
Boyd Neil

Mitigating risk: Identifying and evaluating potential community partners
Fara Alimohamed

Using technology to manage corporate community involvement
Boyd Neil

Developing effective volunteer programs
Jon Kristjanson

Case study: Honouring women and engaging all stakeholders in Harlequin's more than words program
Megan Lorius

Translating corporate community involvement into customer & employee loyalty
Susana Petti

Measuring the performance of corporate community involvement programs
Dan Donovan

Maximizing the PR value of corporate community involvement programs
Susana Petti

Boyd Neil is Senior Vice-President, National Practice Director, Corporate Communications, at Hill & Knowlton Canada. Boyd has more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors providing senior level counsel to a variety of clients. He is especially skilled in reputation management around complex and sensitive public issues and in stakeholder and crisis communications. As national practice director, corporate communications, Boyd is responsible for guiding Hill & Knowlton's national team of corporate communication consultants. In addition to a career as a magazine journalist with such publication credits as Canadian Business, Maclean's and Toronto Life, Boyd has held senior communication positions in government, the plastics industry trade association and consulting firms with practices in issues and crisis management, internal communication, change management, corporate reputation building and corporate social responsibility. As an associate faculty member of Royal Roads University (RRU) in Victoria, he teaches in RRU's M.B.A. program in public relations..

Fara Alimohamed is a professional communicator with experience in internal communications, community relations and public relations. Currently, Fara is Manager, Employee Communication and Community Relations at Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, a provider of property and casualty insurance products. Before joining Allstate in 2002, she worked in publishing and wrote for a variety of publications, including BC Woman Magazine and Business in Vancouver. She is an active Canadian Public Relations Society (Toronto) member and currently serves as Chair of the Students and Mentoring portfolio on the board.

Jon began his career with Sodexho in 1987 and brings to the organization 20 years of contract management and hospitality industry experience. Jon has held several roles within Sodexho including Unit Director, General Manager, District Manager, Director of Marketing, VP Marketing and Communications leading up to his current appointment. Jon, a founding member, sits on the board of directors for the Sodexho Foundation, a charitable organization created to eliminate hunger challenges in Canada. He has been an active member of the Canadian Association of Food Services Professionals over the past 18 years and currently serves as the President of the Hamilton-Niagara Branch. Jon earned his Certified Foodservice Executive (CFE) designation from International Food Services Executives Association in 1997.

Dan Donovan is the Executive Director of The Fair Enterprise Institute and the Director of Corporate Communications and Government Affairs for Magna International. In 1997, he started Ottawa Life Magazine and remained publisher until June 2005. He is the former Executive Assistant to the Federal Government's Secretary of State for Youth and Labour, former Legislative Assistant to Dennis Mills MP and is a former Director of Environment Policy at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France. From 1991-1993 he was Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Publications and Marketing for the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an advisory body to the Prime Minister of Canada. Dan is a frequent commentator on CBC radio and television and his work has been published in The Hill Times, The Sun, The Citizen and The Financial Post. He also co-hosted the popular Rogers television show Enviro-mental in 1991-92 and Correct Me If I'm Wrong, a political and business affairs show in 2001-02.

Megan Lorius is the Community Investment Manager at Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. She is responsible for Harlequin's North American corporate philanthropy strategy and Harlequin More Than Words, an innovative and unique community investment program that awards women for their good works, celebrates their commitment to community in a published anthology, and financially supports their associated charities. Megan is also an active member of The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College where she is working on a certificate in corporate community involvement.

Susana Petti is director of public relations for Delta Hotels, and oversees media relations, employee communications and community relations including Delta Cares, which supports the company's Home for the Holidays, Adopt-A-Shelter and Special Olympics Canada programs. With 12 years of experience in public relations and marketing communications, Ms. Petti has also held positions at the former Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Toronto), the Bata Shoe Museum, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Tourism Toronto and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership. She has volunteered her communications and event management skills to the Osteoporosis Society of Canada and the Travel Media Association of Canada.