My talk, “Why we need more stories about female superheroes,” was delivered at TedxWaterlooWomen in 2012 and is published on the TEDx Youtube channel.
It’s also a recommended equity resource on Smart Reading.org.
More broadly, I’ve also delivered guest lectures on crowdfunding, strategy and social marketing for the:
Elizabeth is a highly skilled communicator and speaker. She is able to efficiently convey strategic advice on how to reach key audiences with limited resources, and is highly knowledgeable of SEO and Social Media tactics. I have had the pleasure of hearing her share her expertise with fellow communicators associated with the Networks of Centres of Excellence.
I led a corporate rebrand for this Toronto-based neurosurgery company during the two and a half years during which I served as Director of Marketing and Communications.
Leading a team of six, I produced Synaptive’s first cohesive set of brand guidelines, renamed its product family, and shaped launches for category-defining products such as Modus V™ and Evry™. I also led key announcements, such as the company’s strategic partnership with global growth equity firm General Atlantic.
Producing a documentary with NASA on the space origins of Synaptive’s technology remains a highlight of my career.
In 2015, Dr. Lyssa Neel recruited me to lead campaign strategy for Linkitz, a wearable toy designed to teach young girls to code while encouraging social play.
The campaign successfully raised over $100,000 USD on Kickstarter.
While at MaRS Innovation, several portfolio companies I worked with experimented with crowdfunding products grounded in science and research. Inspired by their success, I partnered with Dr. Fazila Seker to co-direct a crowdfunding campaign for WaveCheck.
WaveCheck is a clinical technique developed to let people know if their breast cancer chemotherapy is working within weeks of beginning treatment, instead of months later after treatment has ended. Our goal was to raise the money necessary to run a clinical validation study with the research team’s peer group at MD Anderson.
We teamed up to launch an Indiegogo campaign that ran nine weeks and successfully raised over $53,000 from over 500 global backers while creating tremendous buzz. The Ontario Institutes for Cancer Research donated $100,000 to fund the study, and GE Healthcare licensed the technology in 2014. We generated over 45 media stories and were twice named to the Globe and Mail’s Top 10 Crowdfunding campaigns.
WaveCheck was a transformational experience for my leadership, writing and marketing work. I’ve written about my experience on Medium.
I was seconded to Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) as Director, Marketing and Communications in 2015. This non-governmental organization advances Ontario’s life sciences sector, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, agriculture, animal health and other related disciplines.
Reporting to Jason Field, President and CEO, I delivered a Strategic Communications Plan to the Board of Directors. I also edited key publications, including the 2015 LSO Sector report and its accompanying digital campaign.
I launched my blog The Analytic Eye in 2010 and published regularly for six years. It gave me room to stretch as a writer while experimenting with tone and perspective.
When I’m hiring talent for marketing and/or communications roles, I often look for candidates who’ve used side projects to advance their careers. I strongly believe that it pays to make your own opportunities.
My post, “Five Viral Takeaways from Nightmares Fear Factory,” which includes an interview with Vee Popat, was republished in The Book of Business Awesome by Scott Stratten after he saw a post about it on Twitter. I’ve written about the backstory here.