CIRI Elects New Vice Chair and Director

TORONTO, June 16 /CNW/ - The Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) announced the election of Jennifer Pierce as the Vice Chair of the CIRI Board of Directors at the 2010 Annual General Meeting. Jennifer is the Vice President, Communications & Investor Relations at TransAlta Corporation. She will succeed David Carey as Chair, CIRI Board of Directors in 2011.

In her current role, Jennifer is responsible for investor and media relations, employee communications, issues management, community investment and aboriginal affairs. Prior to joining TransAlta, Jennifer was Director of Investor Relations for Nova Chemicals. She has also served as Vice-President, Strategy, Performance Management, Investor Relations and Communications for Provident Energy Trust. Previously, Jennifer held leadership roles in communications, strategy and planning at Duke Energy North America, Duke Energy International and Williams Gas Pipelines. Jennifer has a Master of Business Administration from the Jones School of Management at Rice University. She also earned a Master of Political Management from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Boston University.

"Jennifer has consistently demonstrated strong leadership throughout her corporate career and in her numerous volunteer activities. With her leadership skills, business acumen and IR experience she is ideally suited to lead the CIRI board," said David Carey, Chair, CIRI Board of Directors.

"It is an honour to follow in the path of the many great IROs that have served CIRI. I look forward to working with the board, management and our members to advance the practice of investor relations, stature of the profession and contribute to the transparency and integrity of the Canadian capital markets," said Jennifer Pierce, Vice Chair, CIRI Board of Directors.

CIRI members also elected Andrea Gilpin, Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications, Theratechnologies as a Director.

Andrea Gilpin is Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications at Theratechnologies, leading the investor relations and communication departments. Prior to joining Theratechnologies, Andrea was Director, Investor Relations at biotechnology company MethylGene. Previous to this, she was Director, Corporate Development and Operations Management at Celmed Biosciences where she was responsible for the engineering group and led the manufacturing efforts of Celmed's medical device. Andrea participates on the CIRI Quebec Board of Directors and teaches investor relations in the Communications program at McGill University. Andrea holds a PhD in Genetics/Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the Asper School of Business.

"I am very pleased to welcome Andrea to the CIRI board. Her passion for education will be a great asset to the board as we launch our IR certification program," said David Carey.

Sharon Mathers, Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs, CIBC and Past Chair, CIRI Board of Directors has retired from the Board. Sharon joined the Board in 2001 and dedicated many years of volunteer time to the organization.

"Sharon has demonstrated amazing leadership and dedication to CIRI over the years. She has been a valued advisor and a trusted friend" said David Carey.

A complete list of CIRI Board of Directors can be found at www.ciri.org.

About CIRI

CIRI is a professional, not-for-profit association of executives responsible for communication between public corporations, investors and the financial community. CIRI is dedicated to advancing the stature and credibility of the investor relations profession and the competency of its members. With 600 members, CIRI is the world's second largest society of investor relations professionals. For further information, please visit ciri.org.

For further information: Yvette Lokker, Director, Communications & Professional Development, CIRI, [phone], [email protected]