IABC/Calgary appreciates all our members do to support our chapter. To show our support, we will be profiling and recognizing IABC/Calgary members who have reached major milestones. Get a feel for the variations in communications professionals who make up IABC/Calgary’s membership. You may know them!

Meet Judith Sparkes, a senior communicator who has been a member of IABC for 25 years!

Judith is the Director of Communications’ Business Partners at Suncor Energy Inc. and leads a team of approximately 40 communication and stakeholder relations professionals. Over the course of her career, Judith has lead company-wide employee communications. Her work has included projects such as managing talent acquisition, developing a company-wide recruiting strategy and leading internal and HR communications for the merger between Suncor and Petro-Canada – Canada’s largest merger in history!

Her volunteering work spans many areas
Judith’s contributions to the Communications profession include many years of volunteering with IABC/Calgary including serving as president from 2009 to 2010. She has also contributed to the community through work on the board of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, the Human Resources committee of the Hospice Calgary board, as well as being a volunteer mentor with the University of Calgary graduate mentoring program.  She has been a guest speaker, lecturer and presenter at conferences and currently instructs in Mount Royal University’s continuing education faculty in the Public Relations Certificate program, teaching the introductory course as well as employee communications.

What does Judith do when she’s not communicating?
In her spare time, Judith loves to train for her annual half marathon as well as play in the mountains hiking, cycling, skiing and snowshoeing – all of which helps her offset her regular indulgence in good food and wine. She also loves her traveling adventures:  from summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro, to trekking to Everest Base Camp, or going on safari in Kenya it seems she has done it all. Despite this, she claims her bucket list is getting longer, not shorter!

Educational background
Judith holds a Masters in Business Administration with a specialization in Leadership, from Royal Roads University; a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Calgary; a Coaching Certificate through the Coaches Training Institute; and a Certificate in Public Participation from the International Association for Public Participation. She is also an accredited business communicator through the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

From the IABC/Calgary board to Judith, we thank you for continuing to support the Calgary chapter!

Leave a Reply

Our Sponsors