OUR TEAM
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Emily Dunn
- Managing Director
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Wendy Underwood
- Managing Director
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Jessica Napier
- Account Director
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Monica Narula
- Account Director
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Leah Drewette
- Account Coordinator
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Moriah Bacus
- Account Coordinator
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Lauren Wesanko
- Social Media Specialist
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Kurtis Kolt
- Event Specialist
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Heather McGillivray
- Communications & Trade Specialist
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Brent Dunn
- Marketing Consultant
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boa
- Digital Marketing Partner
Emily Dunn
Managing Director
Emily Dunn is a seasoned media relations, PR and marketing professional with 20 years of experience representing tourism and lifestyle brands. She fosters strong relationships with an extensive network of journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, industry leaders and influencers across Canada. Prior to starting her own PR business, Emily spent two years at a full-service marketing agency in Toronto working with top brands such as the Jamaica Tourist Board, Panasonic and Volvo Cars of Canada.
Before relocating to Toronto in 2012, Emily lived and worked in Vancouver for 10 years. While there, a major career highlight was the eight years she spent leading Tourism Vancouver’s media relations team through the Vancouver Olympics and garnering unprecedented media coverage for the destination. She also held the role of regional PR director for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, where she spearheaded international PR campaigns promoting the region.
Emily holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario and is an active member of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC).
Wendy Underwood
Managing Director
With a comprehensive mix of public relations, marketing and media experience, Wendy Underwood brings a professional and balanced approach to all marketing communications projects. Before starting Fever Pitch in 2010, Wendy held the position of Manager, Travel Media Relations, International & Trade at Tourism Vancouver. While at Tourism Vancouver, she had the opportunity to work with some of the world's most influential media outlets as they got ready to cover the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. These included Reuters, USA Today, BBC, Channel 9 Australia and NBC.
Prior to working with Tourism Vancouver, Wendy worked as a freelance writer for local publications such as Vancouver magazine, the Georgia Straight and Western Living. In the public relations arena, her media savvy has won the respect of clients including Destination British Columbia, PromPeru, and The Burrard. Wendy is widely travelled, and having chosen Vancouver as her home base, she is proud to be able to play a part in bringing recognition to companies targeting the Canadian market.
Wendy holds a Bachelor of Arts (English, Journalism major) from Curtin University in Western Australia, and has been involved at the board level with the Travel Media Association of Canada – BC Chapter. She is also a Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate.
Jessica Napier
Senior Account Director
Jessica Napier is a writer, editor and public relations professional with more than a decade of experience working in communications roles in two of Canada’s major urban markets.
Before joining Fever Pitch in 2019, Jessica worked in a full-time position as a Senior Account Manager at SMC Communications, a boutique public relations firm in Vancouver specializing in restaurant and hospitality clients. Jessica collaborated one-on-one with a roster of top-tier culinary clients to help them harness the power of traditional and emerging media while leveraging digital platforms to create compelling and engaging promotional campaigns.
Prior to joining the world of PR, Jessica served as a City Editor in the editorial department at Yellow Pages in both Toronto and Vancouver where she created hyper-local lifestyle content for the company’s digital platforms. Jessica also has more than 10 years of experience as a freelance writer and her work has appeared in print and online for national and international publications, including Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Food and Travel Magazine, Where Toronto, BlogTO and Metro Newspapers, where she authored a weekly "She Says" opinion column for four years.
She holds a joint Masters Degree in Communications and Cultural Studies from Ryerson University and York University and a Honours Bachelor of Arts (Communications major) from McMaster University.
Monica Narula
Account Director
Monica Narula has over a decade of strategic communications and public relations experience representing hospitality and lifestyle brands. With expertise in strategic positioning, media relations, and influencer communications, Monica has developed and led award-winning campaigns for major international brands including Jaguar Land Rover, Grey Goose, Don Julio, Nespresso, and Perrier, as well as for celebrity chef Nuit Regular and her top Toronto restaurants. Several of these campaigns included travel components, such as a Nespresso press trip to Montreal to explore the organization’s commitments to sustainability, and a Land Rover press trip to Montebello. She brings a wealth of lifestyle media and influencer contacts to Fever Pitch, as well as a strong storytelling background and keen attention to detail.
Monica is fluent in Spanish and has been a traveller her whole life. Growing up, she lived in the United States, Kenya, Venezuela, Thailand, and Mexico. A lover of all things food, drink and travel, she shares her love for exploring and connecting with fellow travellers through her travel blog and Instagram account, Harbor & Hill.
Leah Drewette
Account Coordinator
Following an 11-year career in veterinary medicine, Leah Drewette comes to Fever Pitch after completing the Durham College PR and Strategic Communications advanced diploma program, graduating with high honours. She completed two internships during her program: one with ConnectUs 4 Community, a non-profit organization focusing on empowering youth through entrepreneurship skills training, and one with us at Fever Pitch, where she gained hands-on experience working with our travel and tourism clients. During her final year in the program, Leah took a leadership role in projects including planning and executing a mock media conference and a year-end networking event, and has had a number of articles published. Leah was awarded the Regional Chairs Classic in Memory of Roger Anderson Scholarship for academic excellence.
Leah has a passion for travel, culture and food. She also loves writing, meeting new people and working on new and exciting campaigns and collaborative projects that inspire her to think critically and creatively. Leah is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
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Moriah Bacus
Account Coordinator
Moriah Bacus specializes in office administration, event management, project management, and marketing in various sectors, including tourism, hospitality, meetings and events, and association management. She has worked in-house as an event planner for Destination Toronto, independently as an event planner and marketing consultant, and most recently with a full-service event and association management agency leading their HR department.
Moriah is currently a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Toronto Chapter and also the recipient of two prestigious awards: the Canadian Society for Professional Event Planners' Excellence Award for Volunteer of the Year (2016) and MPI Toronto's 5-Star Award for her contributions to the Global Meetings Industry Day Committee (2019).
Lauren Wesanko
Social Media Specialist
Lauren Wesanko is a social media expert with the added bonus of experience in PR, graphic design, storytelling, marketing and corporate communications for leading tourism and lifestyle brands. Her education in graphic design and communications at Emily Carr University of Art + Design combined with her work experience in PR and marketing results in a keen sense of design in her social strategy and execution.
Lauren has handled social media marketing for clients such as Momofuku Toronto, Big Hug Hospitality and Vanessa Vineyards, developing their social media strategy, community growth, branding, digital assets and storytelling. She has also worked in PR for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and corporate communications and marketing at TELUS. Lauren grew up in British Columbia and then transitioned to Toronto in 2020. She loves to travel the globe in search of the best carbs and caffeine.
Kurtis Kolt
Event Specialist
Kurtis Kolt brings to Fever Pitch nearly 20 years of hospitality and event experience, putting it to work as our Event Specialist. With a background in restaurants, Kurtis has parlayed those logistical management skills into a career ideating, creating, and managing events, big and small. He is the co-founder of the Top Drop Vancouver and Calgary wine events, and has been involved in managing both virtual and in-person events for corporate clients such as Scotiabank, RBC, Telus, Oregon Wine and the Washington State Wine Commission. Kurtis is also an accomplished wine educator and presenter, and a food and wine writer.
Heather McGillivray
Communications & Trade Specialist
Heather McGillivray brings nearly 20 years of global sales and marketing communications experience to the table. Representing tourism, lifestyle and culinary brands since 1998, Heather’s work has ranged from local, family-run businesses to globally recognized destinations. Combining media and travel trade relations, Heather is committed to telling a brand’s story with creativity and style – she is a university art school graduate and former graphic designer after all. Strong planning and project management skills coupled with steadfast professionalism fuel Heather’s ability and passion for building valuable relationships with media, travel trade, clients and industry partners.
A highlight of Heather’s career is her decade-long tenure with Tourism Victoria – an award-winning destination marketing organization – where she led the travel media relations program before overseeing sales in 10 countries as Director of Sales. It was here that she first honed her experience working with tour operators and travel agents from around the world. Heather moved to the Global Marketing team at Destination Canada and currently works with select accounts within Fever Pitch's portfolio, as well as independently with Destination British Columbia, Utah Office of Tourism, Travel Oregon and other tourism clients.
* works with Fever Pitch on select client accounts
Brent Dunn
Marketing Consultant
Brent Dunn is a creative advertising, marketing and social media consultant with over 15 years of experience. Over the years, he has worked with numerous large global and domestic brands on various campaigns, including; RBC Royal Bank, Coca-Cola, P&G Beauty (Olay, Cover Girl, Pantene), Gillette, Rogers Communications, PepsiCo, Doritos, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Motors, Rubbermaid, Nestle-Purina and Campbell’s Soup.
Brent's experience, strategic thinking and creative solutions consistently deliver outstanding results for his clients. In fact, he has led over a dozen projects that have won prestigious industry awards. Although the majority of his work has been with Fortune 500 companies, Brent loves tackling marketing challenges for any client and helping them succeed in reaching their goals.
Brent holds a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Western Sydney in Australia and an Advertising Diploma from Sheridan College.
boa strategic digital marketing
Fever Pitch partners with boa, a Canadian strategic digital marketing agency when our clients need paid marketing strategies. By working together, we can combine the power of earned coverage and owned content that Fever Pitch is responsible for, with the targeted reach and strategic ad buying expertise of boa for leverage that multiplies results across all audiences.