Mary Ruth Snyder

"Authentic communication and engagement within a community, combined with collaboration, is transformative, and integral to the success of our collective future."

Mary Ruth’s core belief informs her everyday approach. She spent the first quarter of her life in the heart of southern Ontario’s agricultural mecca of Essex County, known as one of the most competitive media markets in all of North America. The seed of writing and journalism had taken root right alongside the root of community engagement planted by her small-town upbringing.

Mary Ruth’s early foundation began with 15 years in her father's retail business where she learned the importance of clear and concise speech and the value of human connection. Her mother was a teacher who echoed these life lessons. Mary Ruth honed her management skills in the hospitality industry for 15 years which led her back to education at Camosun College where she gained the insight that ‘learning how to learn’ was a lifelong endeavour and completed an applied communications program. For the last 25 years, Mary Ruth’s career spans the fields of communications and community engagement including work within the media industry, event management and the non-profit sector, most recently as the Executive Director for the Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce.