Michele Girash is currently the Acting Director of Communications, Human Rights and Education at the Public Service Alliance of Canada. She is a veteran community development and campaign organizer. Originally planning on a career in research science in perinatal physiology, Michele came to discover her flair for organizing while fighting to ensure that health and safety standards applied to graduate students in university laboratories. The move to women’s health activism soon followed. A post-degree certificate in Health Promotion and Evaluation with an emphasis on Social Marketing provided the stepping stones to a career that has included: being the Director of the Midwifery Task Force of Ontario, as the Northern Ontario manager for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation; as an instructor in Social Marketing at Nipissing University, and placement supervisor in Health Promotion at Laurentian University; as a political organizer and campaign manager at the provincial and national levels; and most recently in various roles at PSAC focused on campaigns and political action.
Michele grew up in Windsor, ON, went to school and raised 3 kids in London, ON, and now works in Ottawa, crossing the river to the outskirts of Gatineau Park each night.
Workshop
Lobbying? Isn’t that the shady practice of greedy corporations and self-interested ladder climbers?
Or is it the essential part of a successful campaign and communications strategy focused on making change at the political level?
Spend some time discussing what is – and what isn’t – lobbying, what the rules are, and how to do it effectively within your great communications plan.