Transparency, openness a winning combination for IABC/Toronto's Communicator of the Year

TORONTO, Feb. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - Communications as a discipline is a high priority for this year's recipient of IABC/Toronto's Communicator of the Year award. For 17 years, IABC/Toronto has presented the Communicator of the Year award to a GTA-based leader who demonstrates exceptional leadership, management and communications skills.  Recipients are often nominated by their organization's communications team so the award is especially meaningful.

Ted Garrard, president and CEO, SickKids Foundation, is not only one of the top fundraisers in Canada, he is also one of the leading communicators in the not-for-profit sector today. He practices what he preaches with regard to transparency and openness among all SickKids audiences.

"The Communicator of the Year Award highlights the role effective communications plays in becoming a great leader," says Louise Armstrong, president, IABC/Toronto.  "As a pioneer of transparency and openness in the non-profit sector, Ted exemplifies modern leadership."  

Garrard is proactive in disclosing the Foundation's activities, such as posting all SickKids financial statements and Canadian tax filings for the past five years on their website and providing detailed explanations to donors on the annual cost per dollar and new fundraising enhancement initiative. Ted also led the charge on the Foundation becoming one of the first hospital foundations to achieve accreditation from Imagine Canada's Ethical Code.

As much as Garrard embraces transparency with external audiences and stakeholders, he also places great importance on internal communications. He was instrumental in the development of the Foundation's first-ever, five-year strategic plan, which was developed to align with the hospital, bringing the two organizations closer together.

A member of Garrard's communications team observes: "Ted is widely known for his commitment to full accountability to the Foundation's various stakeholders, including hospital staff, Board of Directors, donors and the media. Since arriving at SickKids Foundation, Ted has implemented many activities to ensure our organization is a sector leader in fundraising ethics and transparency."

Join the discussion with Ted Garrard at the IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year Award Breakfast on Thursday, March 6, 2014, from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Toronto Eaton Centre Marriott. For more information visit: http://toronto.iabc.com/award/coty/

About the Communicator of the Year selection process 
Communications professionals from across the GTA were asked to nominate an industry leader they believed should be recognized for communications excellence. From there, a panel of four past IABC/Toronto presidents reviewed all of the nominations in detail. After close review, nominees who met certain criteria of the award were researched further through interviews between panel members and the nominee's communications team. The panel then discussed the interviews and selected a winner. This year, the panel agreed that Ted Garrard earned the prestigious designation of the 2013 IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year.

About IABC/Toronto
With more than 1,700 members, IABC/Toronto is the largest IABC chapter in the world. The organization provides these members with multidisciplinary resources and a global network of close to 14,000 communicators in 80 countries, working in diverse industries and disciplines to identify, share and apply the world's most effective communications practices. For more information, please visit http://toronto.iabc.com/.

SOURCE: IABC/Toronto

Brent Artemchuk, Vice President, Marketing & Sponsorship, IABC, 416-968-0264,[email protected]