Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada (H+K) has appointed Michelle McLean as Vice-President and Group Leader of Ottawa’s communications unit, effective February 1. In the new role, Michelle will lead the communications team after spending almost three years as Vice-President of Public Affairs at the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). During her time there, Michelle established and built a strong public affairs team and successfully integrated it with the communications team to form one cohesive unit. Michelle also played a leading role in developing corporate communications, stakeholder engagement and government relations strategies and campaigns, as well as rebranding MHCC.
Prior to originally joining H+K in 2008, where until 2010 she worked in the Ottawa public affairs group as a health-stakeholder specialist, Michelle held significant senior-level project and public issues management positions. This included a role as campaign lead to fund a national cancer strategy, to which the federal government committed $260 million in 2006 – a record at the time. Michelle also spent four years as a litigation associate at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, LLP.