Hayley Robateau is a non-profit leader who has committed her career to using marketing and communications to change hearts and minds for social good. She comes to the Ottawa Community Foundation after an eight-year career with United Way East Ontario, most recently as the Senior Director of Communications.
Prior to that, Hayley worked for a public affairs agency, a national Indigenous association, post-secondary education institutions, and local and national arts charities. She was also a long-time leadership volunteer with the Canadian Improv Games, a national theatre festival for youth.
Born and raised in a small town in Southern Ontario, Hayley moved to Ottawa to pursue her education at the University of Ottawa. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Public Relations, and an Ontario College Diploma in Public Relations from Algonquin College.
A storyteller at heart, Hayley uses a hope-based, impact-focused approach to communications and marketing that drives social change. She is trained in trauma-informed storytelling and mental health first aid.
Her strategies have supported:
- A community-wide communications response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations
- Creation of format for the Common Ground 2022 mayoral debate, focusing on cross-cutting social issues that affect all Ottawa residents
- A renewed, systemic approach to project step, a multi-sector partnership that ensures young people and their families have access to support, treatment, education, and prevention of problematic substance and technology use
- An action-based counter-narrative to rising hate and intolerance in the wake of the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza
In her personal life, Hayley spends her summers in her vegetable garden and her winters sewing her own clothes. She stays active with cycling, skating, and strength training. Hayley has a background as a comedic improviser which informs her leadership style that is grounded in trust, creativity, and turning challenges into opportunities.