Richard Ellis
Chairperson, Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada & Senior Vice President Communications & Public Affairs, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada
As Chairman of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada, Richard Ellis leads the Board of Directors to help steward Ronald McDonald House Charities and raise and grow awareness of the charity, to ultimately help more children and families across Canada.
Richard Ellis re-joined McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited as Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs in September 2008 following a number of years serving as Vice President, Communications at McDonald’s USA in Oak Brook, Illinois. Prior to joining McDonald’s USA, Ellis held the position of Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs at McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited from 2003 - 2005. Ellis held the position of President & Chief Executive Officer, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada (RMHC) from 2008 - 2012.
Prior to joining the McDonald’s organization, Richard was President & Chief Executive Officer of Weber Shandwick Worldwide (Canada) Inc., Canada’s leading national public relations consultancy. While at Weber Shandwick, Ellis managed the firm’s business operations across Canada and applied his strategic public relations, issues / crisis management and marketing communications expertise to a wide variety of leading Canadian and international clients.
Ellis began his communications career as Community Relations Officer at Ontario Hydro in Toronto, Canada. Following his time with Ontario Hydro, Richard was Director of Communications at General Mills Restaurants (Canada) Limited and Vice President at Marshall Fenn Communications.
A native of Toronto, Richard is an active member of the Board of Directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada, AIDS Foundation of Chicago (Chicago, IL), The Toronto Santa Claus Parade, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) and is a member of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards National Committee. He is an accredited member of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
Ellis graduated from The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Sociology).