Welcome to Creative Currency!

Get to Know Us Better

In today’s world, success isn’t always determined by how much money you have, how long you’ve been in business or who you know. A Reddit thread or viral TikTok video is as likely to sway opinions or move markets as an award-winning advertising campaign or PR stunt. Ideas are the common thread that give you currency. For us, it’s not just about selling. It’s about connecting, persuading, and protecting. Keeping the possibilities and the consequences in mind when shaping a campaign. Producing ideas based on authenticity and purpose. Creating ads designed to make moments that matter. We’re strategic thinkers, storytellers and campaigners focused on shortening the runway between strategy, ideas, audience insights and execution to help you find currency.

We’d also be happy to introduce you to our sister agency, Enterprise Canada, a national strategic communications firm.

Agency Snapshot

Founded	2021 - NEW!
Team	New agency, experienced team. A lot of us have been working together for years and we’re proud of that. It’s been a long time coming + we’re excited for what’s next.
People	32 - Nimble, and we like it that way. We’re endlessly curious, creative, strategic thinkers obsessed with learning, growing and leading. We’re a fun team – you should meet us.
Projects Delivered	607 - When we take on work, we make an impact. We’re proud of our ideas, and we’re excited about the ones we haven’t thought of yet.
Napkin Sketches	997 - Our creative director likes to explain ideas visually. Often, it’s in the form of a rough sketch on the back of a napkin. Luckily, our design team always finds a way to bring it to life beautifully.

Our Services

Our office locations

This Section is UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

Our creative services

Strategy	Production	Branding
Brand + positioning	Film + moving image	Brand audit
Content + messaging	Motion graphic + animation	Naming + narrative
Advertising + organic	Full service production + content creation	Logo + identity design
Advocacy + public opinion	International network production of specialists	Brand voice
Audience mapping + targeting	In house talent casting capabilities	Templates + marketing collateral
Content	Video Advertising
Art direction	Strategy + placement
Digital + editorial design	Paid social + digital display
Copywriting	Programmatic
Community management	Print, TV + broadcast
	Out-of-home
	Web
	UX/UI Design
	Front-end development
	Plugin integration
	Email marketing

Our People

We’re all different. That’s why it works. Our team comes from diverse backgrounds and different paths. Politics, fine art, design, journalism, marketing, business, film. We’re a mixed bag and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our philosophy is creative ideas give you currency in today’s world – and that’s what we show up for every day.

Dennis Matthews - President

dmatthews@creativecurrency.ca Dennis Matthews is President of Creative Currency, leading a team that works with major leaders, brands and causes to tell their story and move public opinion. He was an advertising advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a veteran of numerous political campaigns, and remains a frequent media commentator on advertising, digital and political issues. He was recently recognized as an Adweek Magazine Toronto Brand Star and is a member of the Board of Directors of Destination Ontario and the Marketing and Communications Committee of the Michael Garron Hospital. Dennis is also a partner at Enterprise Canada, a national strategic communication firm.

Lauren McDonald - Vice President, Strategy

lmcdonald@creativecurrency.ca Lauren leads the digital and strategy team, supporting clients by developing audience-led and insight-driven approaches that reach and change minds. She served in the Office of the Premier of Ontario as the Director of Marketing, successfully managed advertising for the Ontario PC Party in the 2018 provincial election and was a director building a digital advocacy practice at a top communications firm. She is a regular media commentator and a member of the Board of Directors of Destination Ontario.

Michelle Gazzola - Vice President

mgazzola@creativecurrency.ca As Vice President at Creative Currency, Michelle oversees business operations and drives strategic efficiency across the company. She’s also dedicated to ensuring client satisfaction and the seamless execution of our work. Michelle is a talented communicator and strategist who understands how to tell stories and reach audiences in a digital-first world. Before joining Creative Currency, she worked in PR and Communications at CTV Bell Media. Outside of work, Michelle is an active volunteer with the Heart & Stroke Foundation and is currently the Chair of its Young Leaders’ Committee.

Adam Lalama - Creative Director

alalama@creativecurrency.ca Adam is a Creative Director at Creative Currency. He leads our diverse team of writers and designers through the ideation, execution, and implementation of thoughtful campaign work that is intriguing, impactful, and memorable. He is a goal-oriented creative thinker with 10+ years of experience sharing ideas with such brands, influencers, and publications as Tweed, Truss Beverages, CREA, Vice Media, Hulk Hogan, Gucci Mane, and more. His creative approach leverages branding, design, and communications to enhance and amplify content that audiences want to engage with.

Jaclyn Chu - Senior Designer

jchu@creativecurrency.ca Jaclyn is a senior creator who does static and moving-image design including print, out-of-home, and corporate documents to motion-graphics, animations and web design. Her background is in economics, but her passion is in art and content creation. She’s a self-taught designer who broke into the industry through social media marketing roles in the fashion, beauty, and health sectors. At Creative Currency, she’s a lead designer on many major projects such as Labatt, McCain, Ontario Public School Board Association, and more.

Jennifer Gagnon - Art Director

jgagnon@creativecurrency.ca As Art Director, Jennifer plays a leading role on the creative team and draws on her background in fine art and graphic design to create illustrations, motion graphics, and edit videos. She’s a creative thinker who has the ability to tell stories visually using eye-catching layouts and modern design treatments. She’s worked on major branding, design, and video projects for clients including Labatt, McCain, Croplife Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, and the Ontario Medical Association.

Enterprise Canada

Barbara Fox - Chief Executive Officer

Barbara Fox brings unique leadership qualities to her role as CEO of Enterprise, combining experience, sound judgment and a proven ability to inspire excellence. Barbara has overseen the growth of Enterprise into the firm it is today, guiding a team of public affairs, strategic communications and public relations professionals in their work for some of Canada’s largest organizations. She is widely respected for her strategic thinking and her ability to advise senior leaders on complex public affairs and communications issues. Above all, her skill at building strong relationships with clients, employees and decision-makers has been the hallmark of a career defined by loyalty and respect. She has successfully led the Enterprise team through massive changes in technology and traditional approaches to our business. As a result, Enterprise has emerged as a firm with a unique combination of experience, expertise and capabilities to help clients achieve their goals in a constantly changing world.

Jason Lietaer - President

Jason’s strong chops in branding, crisis response, issues management, and strategic communications help him execute winning strategies that help our clients succeed. He’s helped by extensive experience in senior government roles and inside campaign war rooms during federal and provincial elections. He also gets how technology is changing the public affairs and communications landscape. So he stays up-to-speed on cutting edge tools that didn’t exist even a decade ago, such as influencer outreach, digital activations, and geo-targeting.

Katie Heelis - Senior Vice President & EnterpriseHealth Lead

Katie Heelis is a recognized health care expert, political strategist, and issues manager with a successful track record of running some of Canada’s largest health advocacy campaigns. Katie started her career as an Issues Manager and Policy Advisor in the Office of the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care in Ontario, where she honed her policy skills and political acuity, becoming a key advisor on health policy, and working on a variety of political campaigns at the municipal, provincial, and national level. Since joining Enterprise, Katie has led national public affairs, government relations and public relations campaigns for clients in all areas of health care from mental health to hospitals and long-term care. Today, she is sought after by many of Canada’s leading health executives and organizations to solve complex problems and support the development of winning strategies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Katie was asked to serve as the Interim CEO for Addictions and Mental Health Ontario representing nearly 200 frontline community health organizations during the height of the pandemic. Katie also provided critical expertise, strategic direction and issues management to many health care organizations as they navigated the pandemic. Katie is a graduate of the Balsillie School of International Affairs, holding a master’s degree in International Public Policy with a focus on Global Public Health. She is the founder of the Women in Media Fellowship and a Board Member at Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services in Toronto.

David Tarrant - Vice President, National Strategic Communications and Atlantic Canada Lead

David Tarrant has spent his career helping organizations turn complicated challenges into simple solutions. As Enterprise’s Vice President of National Strategic Communications, David helps our clients bridge the worlds of communications, marketing and public affairs so that they can better identify opportunities, overcome challenges and ultimately build sustainable strategies that allow them to achieve their goals. David is also Head of Enterprise’s Atlantic Canadian Office, based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is part of Enterprise’s commitment to providing true full-service support for national and local clients from coast to coast. A native of St. John’s, Newfoundland, David has worked in the office of the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premiers of Nova Scotia and Ontario. During his career in the private sector, David also worked as the Director of Strategic Communications for a major Canadian bank. A former speechwriter, David has written election narratives, Throne Speeches and a provincial budget, overseen multimillion-dollar research and advertising budgets and supported complex regulatory communications that include AML and anti-money laundering initiatives, M&A activities, and C-suite executive transitions. Throughout his career, David has made messages clearer, campaigns more focused, and helped issues become more relevant to more people. When companies or institutions face complicated communications questions, there’s few better than David to help them win.

Dave Sommer - Vice-President, Strategic Communications at Enterprise Canada and Associate Creative Director at Creative Currency

dsommer@creativecurrency.ca Based in Toronto, Dave Sommer is the Vice-President, Strategic Communications at Enterprise Canada and Associate Creative Director at Creative Currency. Dave was most recently the Head of Politics and Government at Instagram in Washington, DC, where he advised global political leaders, government agencies, NGOs and IGOs on digital strategy and best practices, while also developing on-platform products to help users celebrate elections and civic events around the world. Previously, he served as Head of Digital for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, taking the creative lead on all of PM Trudeau’s digital and video platforms. Before that, he worked as a reporter, editor and producer in various Canadian radio and TV newsrooms, including CTV National.