Jodi White

Jodi White's career spans the nexus of journalism, government, the private sector and the not-for-profit sector, providing a unique skill set and knowledge surrounding governance and public policy issues. She has worked at the most senior levels of government and the private sector. Ms. White is currently the president of Sydney House consultants and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Carleton University's Norman Patterson School of International Affairs and the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs.

For the past five years, she was the President and CEO of the Public Policy Forum, one of Canada's foremost independent think tanks, where she successfully led the strategic re-positioning of the organization in its relationship with the private sector and with governments all across the country. In government, she was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1988 and Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada in 1993. From 1994 to 2000, Jodi White was Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Imasco Limited, a major Canadian multinational based in Montreal. As an entrepreneur, she founded Sydney House consultants in the '80s and later co-founded The Neville Group, a well-regarded Ottawa consulting company with private sector clients.  Ms. White began her career in journalism at the CBC first as a television news reporter and latterly as a senior network radio producer where she produced an Actra-award winning radio documentary. In 2009, she was appointed a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, D.C.

Throughout Ms. White's career she has committed time and energy to the not-for-profit and voluntary sector. Currently she is Chair of the Board of Governors of the National Theatre School of Canada, in Montreal. She also sits on several national boards: Canadian International Council; the Trans Canada Trail; Tides Canada; Action Canada and the Canadian Journalism Foundation. Previously, she served on the boards of: The Ottawa General Hospital (including as Deputy Chair); the Public Policy Forum (including as Chair); the Institute for Research on Public Policy; The Canadian Institute of International Affairs; the Stratford Festival; Bishop's University; Ashbury College and the Southern Africa Education Fund.

In 2007, Ms. White received the Public Service Citation from the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada. In 2008, she was named one of the top 100 most influential women in Canada by the Women's Executive Network.  She graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in political science and Carleton University with an Hons. BJ in journalism.