Joseph Thornley

Joseph Thornley is CEO of Thornley Fallis and 76design, a company he established in 1995 to provide strategic communications and public relations advice and counsel to senior executives in large public and private sector organizations.  He has more than 25 years of experience providing clients with communications strategies and programs.

Joe’s current and past clients include: Rogers, Enstream, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the City of Ottawa, Alenia Aeronautica, CanWest Global Communications, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Xerox Canada, Communications Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian Feature Film Advisory Committee, EADS Telecom North America, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the International Institute of Communications (Canadian Chapter), Nav Canada, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, Revenue Canada, Infrastructure Canada, Environment Canada, Canadian Heritage, Canada Post Corporation, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Visa Canada.

Joe has been actively engaged in social media since 2004 when he started exploring wikis, RSS feeds and online communities. He has been blogging at www.propr.ca since 1995 and is @thornley on Twitter.  

He believes that, while social media makes it possible for us to form communities of interest that transcend limitations of proximity, it only feeds our appetite for face to face connections. Accordingly, Joe has been a driving force behind the Third Tuesday Social Media meet-up events that bring together social media enthusiasts, communicators and everyday people to explore new developments in social media and their impact on society, organizations and citizens. Third Tuesday represents an ongoing experiment in the power of social media to build online communities that manifest themselves in real world relationships. Third Tuesday meet-ups have been organized across Canada in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and New Brunswick.

Joe is a regular speaker, moderator and participant at conferences on public relations, communications and social media.  He has chaired the Canadian Institute’s Conferences on Social Media in Toronto (2007, 2008 and 2009) and Calgary (September 2008) as well as the OpenDialogue Conference on Social Media (2008 and 2009) and the Advanced Learning Institute’s Conference On Social Media for Government (2008 & 2009).

He regular conducts social media workshops for a variety of organizations including the City of Ottawa, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Ontario’s Local Health Integration Networks, and Alberta Education.

Prior to founding Thornley Fallis, Joe served in a series of progressively more senior positions with Hill and Knowlton, one of Canada’s largest integrated communications consulting firms. From 1984 to 1995, he was promoted from Consultant to Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President. During his years at Hill and Knowlton, Joe established and developed successful public affairs and communications consulting practices in both Toronto and Ottawa.

At the outset of his working career, Joe served in a number of positions with the Federal Government. From 1978 to 1979, he served as Legislative Assistant to the Hon. Ed Lumley, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. From 1980 to 1983, Joe served first as Legislative Assistant and then as Executive Assistant to the Hon. Francis Fox, Minister of Communications.  In 1985, Joe served as Executive Assistant to the Hon. Ed Fulton, Ontario's Minister of Transportation and Communications.

Joe believes that responsible citizens should give back to their community through community work and the support of causes in the public interest.  In 2008, he was elected Chair of the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms, the industry association of Canada’s leading public relations consulting firms.  He is a Senior Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research and a member of the Counsellors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS), the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and the Web Analytics Association (WAA).

For forty years, he was actively engaged in Canada’s political process. From 1992 to 1998, he served as the Secretary Treasurer of the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC). From 1993 to 2003, he was the Chair of the Federal Liberal Agency of Canada. Earlier, he served on the National Executive of the Liberal Party of Canada as the President of the Young Liberals of Canada (1973 to 1978). In 2002, Joe chaired the Liberal Leadership Campaign of Sheila Copps. He also served as the Communications Director in Ms. Copps’ 1990 bid for the LPC’s leadership. Joe also has participated actively at the constituency level. From 1985 to 1988, he served as President of the Ottawa Rideau Provincial Liberal Association. From 2005 to 2007, he served as the President of the Ottawa West-Nepean Federal Liberal Association.

Joe holds an Honours B.A. and an M.A. in political science, both from the University of Waterloo.  He completed Ph.D. course work in political science and public administration at Carleton University.

See how Joe gives back to the community.