Toronto, Ontario – Amber Lonie, Halifax, Nova Scotia, is the 2009 winner of the Ruth Hammond Scholarship, awarded annually to a public relations student in her final year of the Bachelor of Public Relations program at Mount Saint Vincent University (The Mount), Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Lonie has studied in a Chinese exchange program through Gingling College, Nanjing, China, has participated in a French Explore Program through Université Laval, Québec, and holds a communication arts diploma in advertising and public relations from Lethbridge College, Alberta.

In 2008, she was on the Mount Saint Vincent Dean’s List and in 2007 received the Millennium Excellence Award.

In her first internship, Lonie worked with Lethbridge College handling writing and advertising, recruitment, organization of College events and working with Endeavour, the college newspaper. Her second internship took her to Mentum, a wireless firm in Ottawa, where she became involved in the creation of the firm’s intranet along with media relations responsibilities.

Lonie’s most recent assignment was with Shell Canada, Calgary, where she worked in social investment. Her responsibilities involved strategic communications, event planning and management, donation strategy, issues research and writing.

According to Patty Richards, Manager, Social Investment at Shell, “Amber’s just what we need at companies like Shell—engaged, intelligent, hard-working and ready to tackle the real world problems of the energy challenge.”

In addition to her academic and professional work, Lonie is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, Montreal, Quebec, where she has contributed to the establishment of the Millennium Network. The Network’s goal is to help communities and not for profit organizations become more effective and efficient. She is currently co-chair of the Network’s programming committee.

Lonie values her community work and is also a volunteer with organizations such as Sunday Supper, a local soup kitchen that provides meals in a non-threatening environment to the homeless in downtown Halifax.

A member of the Canadian Public Relations Society, Lonie has served as treasurer of the Mount’s Student Public Relations Society.

Recognized for its academic excellence and creative learning approaches, The Mount, has more than 4,000 students from across Canada and around the globe. It offers 35 undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, sciences and an array of professional programs.

The Ruth Hammond Scholarship was established by Ms. Hammond’s friends and colleagues in the Canadian Public Relations Society (Toronto) to honour her lifetime commitment to public relations education in Canada. The Scholarship, currently awarded by Mount Saint Vincent University, acknowledges a student who has completed at least two public relations co-op work terms and who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, leadership abilities and dedication to establishing a career in the public relations field.

The Ruth Hammond Scholarship monies are managed by the Communications + Public Relations Foundation. The Foundation promotes the advancement of communications and public relations as vital functions in society, is dedicated to the public interest, and is committed to increasing public knowledge and awareness of the role of communications and public relations in daily life. The Foundation accepts individual and corporate contributions towards research and educational initiatives nationwide.

For more information about the Foundation and its public relations educational initiatives, contact Barbara Sheffield, Chair, Communications + Public Relations Foundation, Suite 1515, 73 Widdicombe Hill Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M9R 4B3, or phone 416 242-6146 or e-mail foundation@prmediaconnection.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 10:29 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.