Directors

President

Adam Grossman, Senior Media Relations Advisor, ICBC 
Adam has previously served CPRS Vancouver as both Vice-President and the Education Director, and is now standing for election as our chapter’s President. Prior to his current role as the spokesperson and media relations advisor at ICBC, he spent three and a half years working as the media consultant for Reputations. He has more than a decade of experience in media relations, communications and journalism in both Canada and the UK. Two years ago, Adam became a Canadian citizen but decided to keep his funny English accent. 

Past President

Judith Walker, Independent Practitioner
Judith started her career as a print journalist for The Vancouver Sun, and has carried that love of writing through 35 years in PR—working as a communications professional for educational organizations like the Knowledge Network, UBC and Kwantlen College, not-for-profit organizations such as The Arthritis Society and CGA-Canada, and most recently Senior Consultant with Peak Communicators, a downtown PR agency. Now working as an independent practitioner, Judith offers communications, writing and strategic planning expertise, and serves as media relations manager for the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival every fall. 

Vice-President/Professional Development Chair (senior level)

Joanna Wyatt, APR, Owner, Prime Time Communications and Consulting
Joanna’s first assignment after arriving in BC from university in Montreal was to shoot footage of bald-headed eagles on the Skeena River for the Terrace TV’s evening newscast. After mastering every aspect of television production, from editing to master control and even a stint as the weather girl, Joanna made the jump to television news at the former BCTV in Vancouver, now Global TV. She jumped again from media to media relations with BC TEL and then TELUS, where she spent 15 years with a front row seat to the transformation of the telecommunications industry. Now, Joanna is helping her clients tell their stories through her consulting company.

Secretary/Treasurer

Victor Vrsnik, APR, Principal, Spire PR
A seasoned strategist, writer and communicator, Victor has clocked over 15 years in the PR profession, managing corporate communications, public affairs contracts and political campaigns. Victor is an able storyteller who gets positive results in the court of public opinion. He penned a regular column for the Winnipeg Sun for two years. Prior to launching SPIRE Public Relations in 2005, he was a Senior Consultant at a leading public relations firm in Vancouver.

Accreditation Chair

Susan Kirk, APR, Independent Consultant
Susan has worked in Communications and Public Relations for more than 15 years, providing strategic and hands-on implementation with a variety of industries and companies: technology, retail, real estate development, government and not-for-profit. Throughout her career, Susan has worked in corporate communications, marketing public relations, media relations, new media, community relations, crisis/issues management and investor relations Susan is currently working with Hoggan & Associates, BasicGov Systems and Aquatic Informatics. Other organizations Susan has worked with include Future Shop/Best Buy Canada, PMC-Sierra, Leading Brands and Sierra Systems.

Communications Chair

Michael Bernard, Principal, Bernard Communications Consulting
Michael Bernard spent more than 25 years as a senior journalist, most of them in Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency. Since leaving CP in 1995, he has enjoyed stints in a major Vancouver PR agency, and as senior communications executive for the province’s securities regulator. He joined the CPRS Vancouver executive in 2007 and serves as chair of the CPRS Provincial Awards Committee. For 11 years, he has been on the board of trustees of the Jack Webster Foundation, which encourages excellence in journalism through its famed annual awards dinner and several other programs.

Online Communications Chair

Kurt Heinrich is the Public Relations and Media Specialist at the Vancouver School Board. In this role he manages all of the VSB's internal and external communications. Prior to this role he was an Account Manager at Peak Communicators, where he provided strategic public relations counsel to a variety of corporate clients, a law firm, a post-secondary institution and a healthcare provider. He has sat on the CPRS Communications Committee for the past two years and has served as the editor of Essentials, our bi-monthly e-newsletter. For the past three years he has co-managed the Daily Gumboot, an community focused blog he helped found. He is a founding director and communications counselor for both the Vancouver Street Soccer League and Portland FC Street Soccer team. He also sits on the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation Communications Committee. He holds a masters degree in history from UVIC and a diploma in broadcast journalism from BCIT.

Event Marketing Chair

Marcelo Dominguez, Marketing & Communications Manager, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC & Yukon
Marcelo has provided strategic marketing communications counsel, media relations and promotional support for more than a decade to three of Canada’s leading national health charities. His current appointment with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation follows Marcelo’s turn at agency-side communications with the Laura Ballance Media Group where he managed clients across several industries. 

Membership Chair

John is a lead consultant for companies and organizations in the tech, health, and tourism sectors in the United States and Canada. He has been recognized for his work with a high profile fatal aircraft incident, the Dalai Lama visit to Canada and a culture changing, profile raising program a global engineering company. John studied Public Communication at the American University in Washington, D.C. Many evenings John can be found beachcombing with his family at his home overlooking the Canada-US Peace Arch monument.

Education Chair

Professional Development Chair (junior to mid-level)

Deborah Chatterton, Communications Consultant, Vancity
Deborah has put her Bachelor of Public Relations (distinction) degree to work in four cities and for a variety of industries. She has worked in freelance journalism, marketing, public affairs, media relations and corporate communications. As a Communications Consultant at Vancity, she provides strategic and tactical communications support for organizational goals. Before joining Vancity, Deborah was a Senior Communications Business Partner at TELUS. She has been a CPRS mentor for three years.

Operations Chair

Regan Lal, Senior Consultant & Manager of Operations, Reputations
Regan began her career at the British Columbia legislature working for government caucus communications and has enjoyed agency life in Vancouver for the past seven years. Regan earned a graduate certificate in public relations management from Royal Roads University in 2007. She specializes in strategy development and event management and has provided counsel to locally-owned businesses and multi-national firms. In previous years, Regan volunteered with a joint CPRS/IABC initiative to bring PR professionals into post-secondary institution classrooms to speak candidly about the industry.

Speaker Series Chair

Alyn Edwards, Partner, Peak Communicators
Alyn leads Peak Communicator’s media training and video production group. A veteran 30-year senior news reporter (BCTV, CBC-TV) and journalist (Toronto Telegram, freelance writer), he has literally trained hundreds of senior executives and conducted thousands of interviews. He has a nose for the news behind the client’s front door and is expert in preparing clients for the best and worst the media can bring to bear. Alyn knows most of the senior news reporters in BC personally, which goes a long way in providing media counsel to clients. He is a long-time board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Vancouver and heads up the organization’s communications committee.

Volunteering Chair

Simon Briault, Independent Consultant
Simon Briault is a writer and communications specialist who has held roles including Manager of Communications for the British Columbia Pharmacy Association and Deputy Head of Public Affairs for the Federation of Small Businesses, a not-for-profit lobby group and the UK’s biggest business organization. Originally a print journalist with a financial publishing company, he has more than seven years of experience in journalism and communications in Canada and the UK. He has volunteered his communications expertise for charities involved in helping people with homelessness, disability and community theatre.