Jodi White’s career spanned the nexus of public policy, journalism, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. She was involved at a senior level in six federal elections campaigns, serving as Progressive Conservative national campaign chair in 1997, and was the first woman in Canada to serve as the head of a national election campaign. In 1993, she chaired Jean Charest’s bid for the party leadership. In government, she served as Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister, the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, and as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell.
She served as President of the Public Policy Forum, where she lead a strategic repositioning for the national non-profit organization, enabling it to better fulfill its mission to promote better public policy and public management through informed dialogue across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
In the private sector, she was Vice President (Corporate Affairs) for Imasco Ltd, a major multinational conglomerate. As an entrepreneur, Jodi founded Sydney House consultants and co-founded The Neville Group. She started her career as a television news reporter and subsequently worked as a senior radio producer at the CBC. She served on several nonprofit boards, including the National Theatre School of Canada (as chair of the board), Tides Canada (where she is past chair of the board), the Canadian International Council, and the Trans Canada Trail. In 2013, She received the Order of Canada for her work in philanthropy and for her contributions to public dialogue in Canada.
Ms. White was a long-standing Fellow of the MPM Program and did much to support the program from its very earliest days. An alumnus of Carleton, Ms. White was steadfast in her belief that professional education could improve the quality of our shared politics in Canada.
The faculty, staff and all members of the MPM community extend our heartfelt condolences to Ms. White’s family.