projects and accomplishments

  • Opening Up - Empowering Maternal Mental Health Forum (Women’s Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton) Complete project management for this virtual event. The Opening Up – Empowering Maternal Mental Health Forum offered exciting experts and women with lived experience of delivering babies during the Covid-19 pandemic to an audience throughout Ontario. The focus was childbirth and mental health through the pandemic, as well as the positive changes that have happened/are happening in mental health/wellness treatment and support. The content was this and turned out to be much more – a sacred space for sharing of trauma and triumph, with a supportive and safe environment to be vulnerable.

  • McMaster University/Offord Centre for Child Studies Ontario Parent Surveys (2020-2021) Dovetail Community was thrilled to offer communications support for two Ontario Parent Surveys, conducted in a joint effort through the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University. The focus of the Surveys is on issues related to the health and well-being of caregivers, their children, family functioning, and the impact of COVID-19 across a number of domains. The 2020 Survey resulted in participation from 7,000 caregivers across the province. Their responses highlighted how the first wave and lockdown impacted families in Ontario. For 2022, a total of 10,778 caregivers with an average two children participated, highlighting the experiences of more than 22,000 children across the province.

  • Communications leadership for Continuum Productions Inc., the producer of leading consumer shows (the Hamilton RV Expo; the Barrie, London and Hamilton Boat, Fishing & Outdoor Shows; and the Spring Home & Garden Show in Hamilton).

  • Facilitated the Strategic Planning processes for the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs and the Emergency Services Steering Committee.

  • Part of the team that presented The Cities in Action: Bay Area Climate Change Summit, an initiative of the Centre for Climate Change Management (CCCM) at Mohawk College. Dovetail Community crafted communications planning, social media strategies and media relations. The Cities in Action: Bay Area Climate Change Summit took place the last week of March 2019. An initiative of the Centre for Climate Change Management (CCCM) at Mohawk College, the Summit united the themes of Climate and Economy, Energy and Community, Transportation and Health, and a Youth Summit. Community leaders shared insights on tacking climate change and creating opportunities for sustainability. Dovetail Community was proud to partner with the CCCM as part of the team bringing this critical event to fruition. Learn more!

  • Crafted and implemented a complete Communications Strategy for Mom the Manager, Michelle McVittie. This allowed her to move her business forward in a way that honoured her goals and values.

  • Communication Lead for School Mental Health Ontario SMHO on a project basis through Dovetail Community. This work was Ontario-wide, serving 72 school boards to promote student mental health and well-being, preventing social emotional challenges and substance misuse and helping students who needed more intensive supports and services.

  • Developed and implemented a strategy for the integration and co-ordination of the partnership and sponsorship requests received by The Hamilton Spectator. This strategy tied into the community groups, businesses, advertisers and charities that most closely reflected the values and aspirations of The Hamilton Spectator. This equated to more than 100 annual partnerships.

  • Framing History: Photojournalism and The Hamilton Spectator exhibit. Collaboration with the Art Gallery of Hamilton to celebrate the decades of visual storytelling with a four-month exhibit schedule in two locations, along with a community reception and education component. Curating and framing photos and stories dating back to 1942, when photojournalism began at The Hamilton Spectator.

  • Created a four-month exhibit at AGH for the Canadian Association of Editorial Cartoonists and its conference in Hamilton. The exhibit was the first of its kind to celebrate editorial cartooning as an art form.

  • Staged a Pandemic Preparation Workshop with Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, about aligning health care, emergency services and media planning in planning for pandemics.

  • Conceived and created the Cookie Contest and Book, uniting home bakers, readers, advertising revenue and charitable giving into one initiative. Booklets were distributed in all 100,000 daily copies of The Hamilton Spectator.

  • Co-created and co-presented (with Mohawk College) the Media Relations Summer Camp. Since 2008, this annual event has supported local not-for-profit and charitable partners develop improved media relations skills. To date, more than 150 different participants have been ‘campers’.

  • Co-created The Change Challenge, a donation program of SpecKids Unlimited. The Change Challenge awarded $25,000 to one project that made life better for kids in Hamilton/Burlington, as voted by Spectator readers. Created an overall plan for branding, criteria, website creation and management and project completion. Secured pro-bono design of branding campaign and website design. The Change Challenge generated 140+ submissions, 15 finalists and secured ~150,000 online votes.

  • Developed and implemented a first-ever Communications Action Plan at a division of Westinghouse, using survey data and focus group feedback, in order to align with organization business and sales objectives. Receiving unanimous approval from management team, the Action Plan was implemented with a resulting 18% increase in levels of communication and awareness of business goals by employees.

  • Leading a team, designed, developed and implemented an employee recognition program throughout the division. Participation rate was double the objective and the program won a Canadian Public Relations Society (Hamilton) Pinnacle Award for Best Internal Communication Program.