Trustmakers of the North
Trustmakers of the North
Communications, media relations and public speaking training
A Division of Rutherford McKay Associates Inc.
- Build trust and support through clear, authentic communications
- Form and share your ideas clearly and with impact
- Engage with the news media with confidence
- Make better presentations and speeches that help your reach your objectives
- Connect with stakeholders and decision makers with self assurance and credibility
We are the original trust-through-communication company, offering our unique, innovative, and proven approach to communications training for 25 years.
We have worked across Canada’s north with territorial and municipal governments, non-profits, Indigenous organizations, science-based organizations, and post-secondary institutions.
Lucy van Oldenbarneveld is an award-winning former CBC journalist including Canadian Screen Award winner who is now helping people communicate with clarity, impact and more confidence. She spent over 20 years at CBC as anchor of the evening news in Ottawa. She started her career in the Yukon as a CBC radio host and producer and continues to work in territory on communications and policy issues. She lived in Whitehorse for eleven years working both at YG and at CYFN. Since leaving journalism she has provided strategic communications support and training to help dozens of organizations, individuals and executives. As a crisis communications advisor she has also advised a number of Canadian headline makers. She has also provided communications services to the Government of Nunavut. She has also delivered skills training to journalists around the world and covered European politics for Deutsche Welle World Service Radio in the two years following 9/11.
John McKay is a national communicator who has provided communications training and coaching to key organizations affecting life across Canada’s north. He has worked with scientists and researchers operating in the north from organizations such as Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Public Health Agency, Health Canada, and the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre. He has trained the federal crown prosecutors in Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut. He has worked with two territorial Premiers and a number of territorial cabinet ministers, as well as the c-suite executives from the Qulliq Energy Corporation. He has conducted sessions with personnel from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, the Climate Change Secretariat, the Devolution Secretariat, the Nunavut Housing Corporation, and all departments in the Government of Nunavut. He provided training to the Canadian Armed Forces’ Joint Task Force North in Yellowknife and has led several training courses for officials from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). His focus is always on helping people communicate their ideas clearly and authentically.
Get more information using the form below. Expect a quick response !
Want to talk more?
Connect with John McKay at jmckay@trustmakers.ca or 613-699-2007 ext. 102
Available Courses
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Spokesperson Training 1: Media and Communications Training
This course will help you meet your obligations and accountabilities without resorting to evasiveness and spin. It will help you be clear, authentic, and trusted when communicating with the news media and other public audiences.
Spokesperson Training 2: Public Speaking and Presenting
This course will help you be engaging, interesting and comfortable in front of an audience, without having to “put on an act.” It will help you be a better speaker at meetings, consultations, community engagement sessions, open houses, and other events.
Spokesperson Training 3: Parliamentary/Legislative Committee Appearances
This course will help the person appearing, as well as those who support them, to build trust and support with parliamentarians, and to further connect with the public service, the news media, stakeholders, and the public.
Spokesperson Training 4: Engineering and Presenting Your Ideas
Your core idea is the unique way you solve a problem or create an opportunity. To engage and persuade, your core idea must be expressed in a clear, concise, and memorable way. This program takes participants through the process of discovering or re-discovering their core idea, building it into all parts of the business, and using it to drive growth and stand out from the crowd.
Corporate & Workplace Communications 1:Strategic Communications
Strategists adapt to circumstances. They gather and synthesize information, and “connect the dots.” They anticipate. They plan. This course takes participants through the process of strategic communications planning.
Corporate & Workplace Communications 2:Issue Management / Crisis Communications
The course covers: what issues are; the “why” and “how” of issue monitoring and management; radar – how to anticipate, monitor, and triage issues; team structures, roles, and responsibilities; response planning; the different needs of different audiences; and, how to apply issue management principles.
Corporate & Workplace Communications 3:Communicating Through Change
In this course, our focus is on successfully communicating change. We will begin by introducing you to key themes and considerations of change management before shifting exclusively to communication. Understanding who’s involved, organizational factors that influence project success, and resourcing will inform your communication decisions and help you draft a communication plan. Your draft may be used to help you plan an upcoming change, help you understand your team’s needs for a planned change or it may be used to help you advocate for resources you personally require to navigate change.
Want to talk more?
Connect with John McKay at jmckay@trustmakers.ca or 613-699-2007 ext. 102
We hold a number of standing offers and contractual agreements across the north, notably the following:
- Government of Yukon – Qualified Source List for Design and Delivery of Professional Development Courses
- Government of Nunavut – SOA, Development and Delivery of Professional Development, Occupational and Computer Courses, Nunavut
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