About

Joanna Chan is a passionate and creative individual with a love for marketing and the developing world. Joanna started her university career at San Diego State University (SDSU) as a recipient of the Incoming International Student Scholarship; while at SDSU Joanna was inducted into the Golden Key International Honours Society and held various positions with the International Student Association including Public Relations Chair, Vice President, and President. After three years at SDSU she transferred to Carleton University where she completed her B.Com (honours) degree from the Sprott School of Business. At Carleton, Joanna was a Sprott School of Business Teaching Assistant for Marketing Communications as well as for the Professional and Executive Marketing in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors Certificate programs; she was also a member of the student organization, Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship.

Joanna currently works for the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM) as Project Manager. Her recent tasks at CEPSM include the co-authoring of a guide to branding in the public and not-for-profit sectors, the development of national marketing strategies for Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Canadian Heritage, and Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. In addition, Joanna was part of the CEPSM team that audited the marketing practices of the Canadian Commercial Corporation on behalf of the Office of the Auditor General. Her next project is to increase the amount of non-profit organizations that CEPSM works with as well as enter the international development realm to offer social marketing expertise to organizations that are looking to have a real and sustainable impact.

Having spent extensive time in developing countries, Joanna has worked with various grassroots non-governmental organizations for which she organized events, fundraised, engaged others, organized small volunteer trips, and wrote grant proposals that resulted in over $30,000 to community development projects in Uganda; this work has led Joanna to found the group called Restless Youth which is focused on engaging youth and moving them to action in response to the conditions in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.  Joanna is currently working towards her Certificate in International Development from the University of British Columbia in order to further her understanding of how to address the unique needs of the global south.