To the MSVU community,
I am writing to share the news that Karen White has been appointed Associate Vice-President of University Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University. She will begin in the role on April 14, 2025.
Karen comes to MSVU from NATIONAL Public Relations, a leading public relations firm with operations across Canada. At NATIONAL, Karen served as Senior Vice-President, providing executive counsel and strategic advice to a wide range of organizations navigating complex challenges, including a number of post-secondary institutions. Prior to joining NATIONAL, Karen spent more than a decade in public service in a range of departments, from Conserve Nova Scotia, Environment, to Energy. Her more than two decades of experience span strategic communications and cyber incident response planning, crisis communications, reputation and issues management, and stakeholder, government and media relations.
Karen is certified in both public engagement (International Association of Public Participation) and crisis management (Incident Command System). Others consistently describe her approach to her work as thoughtful, collaborative and consultative.
Karen is a proud MSVU alumna. She holds a Bachelor of Public Relations degree from MSVU and a Master of Business Administration degree from Saint Mary's University. She currently sits on the board of Quest Canada, a non-profit organization supporting Canadian communities in their energy use and emissions reduction efforts.
At MSVU, Karen will serve as a member of the executive leadership team, providing strategic guidance across a diverse portfolio with government relations, change management, and complex issues management at the fore. Specifically, she will oversee government and community relations, communications and marketing, and advancement (fundraising and donor stewardship, as well as alumni relations), including supporting a multi-disciplinary team of directors, managers and staff in these areas.
Sincere thanks to the search committee for their commitment to the hiring process.
Please join me in extending a warm welcome (or welcome back) to Karen.
Joël
Dr. Joël Dickinson
President and Vice-Chancellor
Mount Saint Vincent University
