About Joanne Rider

Joanne Rider has 20 years of experience in strategic communications and public relations. Her expertise includes corporate reputation and brand management, issues management, media relations, government relations, stakeholder engagement, community relations, internal communications and change management.

As Group Manager, Public Affairs for a major Canadian corporation, Joanne's responsibilities included reputation and issues management, crisis communication planning and government relations. She led communications professionals through processes to develop multi-stakeholder strategic plans. She founded the external and internal communications function for an auto parts specialty chain, managed consumer public relations and established the communication function for the company’s supply chain.

Joanne was previously Senior Consultant with a Toronto-based firm specializing in corporate communications and investor relations where she supported a major change initiative for a complex telecommunications company. 

Joanne was Director, Public Relations for a large community hospital for almost ten years at a time of significant restructuring and reprioritization in the health care system and, previously, developed the public awareness strategy for a high profile hospital’s capital campaign. She started out in sales promotion and advertising copywriting.

Joanne is a member of the Board of Directors of the Communications and Public Relations Foundation, a national organization dedicating to advancing education and research in the profession. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Public Relations Society (Toronto) and the Health Care Public Relations Association. She was President of the Lung Association in Peel Region and Co-Chair of the Marketing Committee for the Peel Healthy at Heart Coalition. She is a member of Canadian Public Relations Society, International Association of Business Communicators, and the Empire Club of Canada.

”Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
Stephen King