CPRS (Toronto) -- Biographies

CPRS member, Adele Pelland, has had an extensive career in public relations that has spanned 15 years and several sectors, including government, corporate and agency. Having received a BA from the University of Toronto in languages, Adele’s emergence into the PR field was an unexpected one. Early on in her career, she was placed in a PR role due to a company restructuring. Without any formal training, she took this as an opportunity to learn as much as possible about the industry by attending conferences, meeting other professionals and taking advice from a great mentor. What appealed to her most about public relations was that no two days were ever the same.

Adele has held positions at the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Monsanto Canada Inc. and as a Public Affairs Specialist. She joined Waterloo-based agency Quarry Integrated Communications in 2005, and is currently a senior public relations specialist responsible for leading the development and execution of PR functions for the company’s agri-food clients.

A career accomplishment she considers among her most rewarding was during her time at Monsanto, a leading producer of genetically engineered crops, where she worked alongside a world-renown risk management expert. Adele took on the challenge of creating an internal customized risk management training program that was implemented worldwide. She found this task not only valuable, but fun. She also faced adversity in this role, particularly, in educating consumers and fielding their emotional concerns regarding biotechnology and genetically modified foods, which was an emerging and unfamiliar concept at the time.

Over the past decade Adele has noticed great advances in Canadian public relations, including the field’s recognition as an integral part of doing business and achieving a company’s bottom line. She is also excited by the growing number of jobs and post-secondary programs offered in the field.

Aside from her career, Adele is a travel-enthusiast, who enjoys reading, golfing and doing Sudoku puzzles. She also takes great pleasure in spending time with her family, including her newly-engaged daughter, studying at the University of Guelph to become a veterinarian, and her son, a computer expert, who lives in Calgary.

Throughout her profession, Adele has remained a strong advocate of continuous learning. Judging by the diversity and longevity of her career, she clearly practices what she preaches.