Keelan Green

Keelan Green joined Thornley Fallis & 76design in 2002 after several years in the Government of Canada, first at the Department of Finance and then Treasury Board.  He became Vice-President and General Manager of the firm’s Ottawa office in 2007 and was appointed President of the firm in 2010.

As President, Keelan leads the firm and is responsible for its overall performance and strategic direction. He is also actively involved in client work. In addition to leading two of the firm’s major accounts, Lockheed Martin and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, Keelan regularly undertakes work for Ford of Canada, the City of Ottawa and a variety of Government of Canada departments and agencies.

In 2008, Keelan led the firm’s Ottawa office to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Award for Professional Services Firm of the Year. That same year, he was selected as one of Ottawa’s “Top 40 Under 40” by the Ottawa Business Journal.

Keelan draws on more than a decade of experience in communications, public relations and marketing to develop, plan and lead the delivery of strategic, innovative and multi-channel communications projects, programs and campaigns that help organizations achieve their business objectives.

Keelan’s clients know him to be driven to excel, committed to providing high-level service and fanatical about detail in execution. He has delivered communications advice, products and services to hundreds of public and private organisations, including: Lockheed Martin, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, Ford of Canada, the City of Ottawa, Dell, Waste Management, Cognos, the Ottawa Hospital, Sikorsky, Alenia Aeronautica, Enstream, Enablence, L-3 Communications, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, Visa Canada, Rx&D, the Canadian Newspaper Association, the Canadian Shipowners Association, the Council of Canadian Academies and a broad range of Government of Canada departments and agencies such as CMHC, CATSA, Environment Canada, Health Canada, HRSDC, Industry Canada, Infrastructure Canada, NRC, NRCan, the Public Health Agency of Canada, PWGSC and Treasury Board.

Actively engaged in social media since 2005, Keelan has advised numerous clients on how to incorporate social media and online tools and applications into their internal and external communications programs and activities. A co-author of the Capital PR (www.capitalpr.ca) blog with some of his colleagues in Thornley Fallis’ Ottawa office, his online profile includes Twitter (@keelangreen), Linkedin, Facebook and Foursquare.

Keelan began his career in the Federal Government at the Department of Finance, providing communications advice, products and services while working on a variety of demanding assignments including three federal budgets and two national economic updates.  His success in the Communications Branch at Finance won him recognition in the form of an invitation to take on an additional role with the department’s Task Force for International Meetings that was created to support Canada’s role as chair and host of numerous international finance meetings between 1999 and 2001.  Keelan established himself as a senior member of this Task Force that was responsible for communications, media relations and logistics for meetings of Ministers and Deputy Ministers of the G-20, Western Hemisphere and G-7, held across Canada as well as in Germany, Hong Kong and Turkey.  While at Finance Canada, he twice managed the department’s cross-country, public consultations involving the Minister and Deputy Minister, and planned and executed numerous special events and speaking engagements of then Finance Minister Paul Martin.

In 2001, Keelan joined the Treasury Board of Canada in the Chief Information Officer Branch where he coordinated communications and media relations for the Government of Canada’s Government On-Line initiative and provided strategic communications advice, products and services for policies and programs related to the electronic delivery of government services to Canadians.  His contribution to the development and release of the department’s Privacy Impact Assessment Policy was recognised with an award from the President of the Treasury Board.

In 2007, Keelan was integral to the planning and execution of two gala events honouring former Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney.  Both of these events, one in Ottawa and one in Montreal, were attended by over 500 guests, including: current Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper; numerous current and past Ministers, Senators and Members of Parliament; Ambassadors to Canada and other foreign diplomats; many corporate Presidents, CEOs and senior executives; and a variety of other prominent individuals.  In 2009, Mr. Green assisted with the planning and execution of a reception in Montreal for more than 1000 guests to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the Election of the Brian Mulroney Conservative Government in 1984.

Heavily involved in the community, Keelan is President of the Canadian Public Relations Society Ottawa-Gatineau Chapter. He also serves on several other volunteer boards and committees, including the Max Keeping Foundation, the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, the National Arts Centre Opera Lyra Black & White Soiree Committee, the Salvation Army Ottawa Advisory Board, Third Tuesday Ottawa and both the Men’s and Membership Committees at Rivermead Golf Club. 

Keelan is a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society, the International Association of Business Communicators, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, the Canadian Club of Ottawa, the Economic Club of Canada, Rivermead Golf Club and the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Keelan attended Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia where he received a Bachelors’ degree in Business Administration. Throughout his career he has participated in numerous training programs, conferences and seminars.  He regularly attends Canadian Club, CPRS, IABC, Canadian Institute and Third Tuesday speaking, professional development and networking events.

Keelan is an avid golfer at Rivermead Golf Club, plays on two rec league hockey teams and enjoys tennis at the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club. He lives in downtown Ottawa with wife Laura and son Peyton.