Who we are

We’re a team of enthusiastic communications professionals.

lesli-boldt

Lesli Boldt

President

Lesli cares about the work she does, and the kinds of organizations and clients she works for. She is a seasoned communications, community relations and public affairs professional with over 25 years of experience working with clients in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Lesli founded Boldt Communications in 2001. Over the years, she’s also accepted in-house roles to manage the City of Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Games-related communications and to direct marketing and communications for Vancouver Public Library. Before founding Boldt, Lesli worked in public affairs at Vancity Credit Union, and held several progressively senior positions with the B.C. government in Victoria and Vancouver.

Lesli was born and raised in North Vancouver, B.C. and is a settler on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the Tsartlip, Pauquachin, Tsawout, Tseycum and Malahat Nations.

A true West Coaster, she grew up in Lynn Valley, playing in the forest and drinking from Lynn Creek, falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof, and waking up to the rush of the creek behind her childhood home. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. and was a B.C. Legislative Intern. When she’s not working, you can find her running on trails, taking French lessons, riding her bike around town, taking long walks while listening to current affairs podcasts, or sipping wine and talking politics with friends. She also dreams of one day fronting her own band.

Hillary Samson

Director of Operations

As a talented entrepreneur in her own right, Hillary brings cracker-jack business sense and savvy to Boldt’s operations, along with some well-honed editing and writing skills. While she can do just about anything, as Director of Operations, Hillary is in charge of Boldt’s policies and procedures, manages projects, collaborates with Lesli on proposals and business development, helps us set our business priorities, manages budget-related activities…and reads all of the fine print. Hillary joined the Boldt team in 2010.

Hillary was born and raised in Winnipeg, but has spent her adult life in many beautiful places including Ontario, British Columbia, and Innsbruck, Austria. After graduating with an MBA (Entrepreneurship) from the University of Victoria, Hillary worked for eight years at AbeBooks (now a division of Amazon) in communications, marketing and product management. With a passion for supporting small business impact and expansion, she has spent the past 13 years assisting with business operations and growth strategies for social ventures. Hillary has a fabulous teenage daughter, and a delightful stepdaughter, with her Austrian husband.

Allison Murray

Senior Associate

While studying a Master’s in Communications, Allison got her break as a newswire reporter where she filed stories as part of a bilingual newsroom. 

Since then, she’s experienced nearly every angle of the communications spectrum, working as a public relations practitioner at agencies in Vancouver and Miami, leading a national magazine as editor-in-chief, and working as a communications manager at the headquarters of a Vancouver-based financial institution. 

True to her roots, Allison thrives at writing, media relations and stakeholder outreach. Her understanding of the ever-changing media landscape means she knows how to position clients’ stories so they resonate with audiences. Allison enjoys advocacy initiatives that are bolstered by communications strategies and tactics that support organizations’ internal and external objectives.

Allison is a settler, living on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. When not working, she’s trying to raise two kind and compassionate youngsters.

Karen Johnston

Karen Johnston

Senior Associate

Karen is an executive communications leader with extensive experience in strategic communications and issues management. Having worked in private, public service and non-profit settings, she has helped guide Premiers, Ministers, CEOs and Vice Presidents through high profile announcements and issues including the launch of multi-million dollar public sector programs, federal/provincial initiatives, public inquiries, and the pandemic. With over two decades as a public servant, Karen has a deep understanding of government relations and processes and is privileged to have supported Indigenous leaders and initiatives in a culturally sensitive and trauma informed way.

Karen’s career began in a newsroom as a reporter and brings her ‘nose for news’, and love of storytelling, to assignments. She has long-standing relationships with journalists as a spokesperson with an ability to engage directly rather than relying on written statements. Comfortable in front of a microphone, and on- camera, she’s adept at controlling the narrative and respectfully stating a point for clarification making her skilled at media relations training and support.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in political science from Simon Fraser University, a Broadcast Journalism diploma from BCIT, and a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

When not working you can find Karen enjoying travel, movies and lively dinner table debates with her husband of over 30 years. They share two grown children and a cat and live within the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the Tsartlip, Pauquachin, Tsawout, Tseycum and Malahat Nations.

+1-604-662-3500