About Us - Avenue Strategic Communications

Avenue Strategic Communications didn’t just come about on a whim. In fact, it’s the product of a seed that’s been germinating since 1995, when Jonathan, Catherine and Michèle started working together at Columbia Communications (a remarkable firm that punched way above its weight, in our humble opinion).

Catherine and Michèle actually worked for Jonathan for several years, learning all about the intricacies of strategic communications (and the advantages of having a unique laugh) from the Jedi master himself.

Michèle and Catherine had joined Columbia straight out of university (star-crossed work colleagues, having met in high school), while Jonathan had joined Columbia after honing his skills on Parliament Hill, at Canada Post and at Provigo.

By the time Y2K rolled around, Michèle and Catherine had moved on to new challenges. The latter brought her enviable talents in media relations, speech writing and internal communications to Shandwick PR, Alcan, and Imperial Tobacco. The former brought her creativity and organizational skills all the way to Australia, where she worked for Hill & Knowlton and PPR, and then back to Canada, where she worked for McGill University and The Banff Forum.

Fast-forward to 2013: Jonathan is running his own successful communications firm, and Catherine and Michèle are working as communications consultants with clients of their own. They are all still friends.

Inevitably, they started consulting with each other and collaborating on more and more projects – everything from international press conferences to major marketing communications strategies.

By 2017, Jonathan had finally realized how amazing and indispensable his two former acolytes had become and he asked them to join forces with him. Truth be told, they didn’t need much coaxing.

And thus was born Avenue Strategic Communications: a firm with a breadth of experience, a variety of talents, an unwavering commitment to clients and their goals, and, last but not least, a great sense of humour.

Our Team

Jonathan Goldbloom

Jonathan Goldbloom has been providing executives and organizations with communications advice and support for more than three decades.

Jonathan led the award-winning campaign to keep the Shriners Hospital in Montréal, as well as successful campaigns to secure psychologists the right to diagnose children with autism spectrum disorders and to expand access to English schools. More recently, he has provided strategic advice and support to the CIUSSS West-Central Montréal during the pandemic, and he played a pivotal role in organizing Quebec’s English-speaking community’s response to Bill 96 (An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec), on behalf of the QCGN, and to Bill 40 (An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance), on behalf of APPELE-Quebec. As a founder of Coalition Inclusion Québec, he organized public hearings on Bill 21 (An Act respecting the laicity of the State) and developed and implemented the organization’s communications strategy. Other notable projects include: supporting the Royal Montreal Golf Club in its successful bid to host the 2024 Presidents Cup; advising Innu Nation in its dispute with Hydro-Québec; and providing communications advice and support to the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre and to the English Montreal School Board.

Jonathan has provided advice and counsel to a number of political leaders and has played leadership roles in federal, provincial and municipal elections and leadership campaigns.

Jonathan has extensive experience writing corporate publications and speeches, working, for example, on publications for Montreal Kosher, Centennial Academy and College, the Miriam Foundation, the Cedars Cancer Foundation, and Cedars CanSupport.

Jonathan is bilingual and received his education at Harvard (Honours B.A.), Carleton University (M.A.), and the University of Western Ontario (M.B.A.). He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Via Rail and of Hockey Canada, and he previously served on the Board of Directors of the Stratford Festival, of CIJA and of Selwyn House School.

Michèle LaForest

Michèle has over twenty years of experience in public relations, media relations, marketing communications, and corporate event management. She is known for her ability to do lots of things at the same time and, especially, for doing them right.

From 1994 to 2005, she honed her skills working at respected PR consultancies in Montréal (Columbia Communications) and in Melbourne, Australia (Hill & Knowlton and PPR), where she assisted and advised a wide variety of public and private sector clients, including: in Canada, various Government of Canada departments, Canadian Holidays, Power Corporation of Canada, and the Société générale de financement du Québec; in Australia, Tourism Victoria, BP, Emirates Airline, Dun & Bradstreet, and TarraWarra Estate Winery. From 2005 to 2008, Michèle was Director of Campaign Communications at McGill University, where she helped launch the university’s biggest-ever fundraising campaign. From 2009 to 2012, Michèle was Executive Director of The Banff Forum, one of Canada’s pre-eminent public policy forums.

Since then, she has provided communications services to a range of clients, including Centennial Academy and College, McGill University, the Cedars Cancer Foundation, the Miriam Foundation, Accreditation Canada, GWL Realty Advisors, and Selwyn House School. In addition to providing strategic communications advice, Michèle writes, edits and translates content in both English and French. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from McGill University.

Catherine Doyle

With experience in corporate communications, media relations, internal communications, and government relations, Catherine Doyle has demonstrated, throughout her career, a drive to get things done.

She built her career in Montreal: first, at two of the city’s most prestigious public relations firms; and, most recently, at two of the city’s most prominent multi-nationals, where she was responsible for corporate messaging, internal communications, government relations, and media relations.

Catherine is most at ease dealing with complex issues. She has worked in some of the most highly regulated industries, where she has managed public affairs campaigns, provided strategic advice, and developed messaging on issues ranging from anti-doping in sports, corporate transformation projects, and emerging regulations.

She left the corporate world four years ago to return to her consulting roots. Her clients rely on her flexibility, dedication, and professionalism to drive projects and to provide advice. Most recently, she managed all communications surrounding the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Independent Person investigation into Russian doping, including the organization of two high-profile press conferences to announce the investigation’s findings.

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Journalism, with Combined Honours in Political Science, as well as a Bachelor of Arts, from Carleton University.