Jennifer Hollett to lead Twitter’s news and government partnerships
The social media service announced Monday that Jennifer Hollett will be taking over the position previously held by Steve Ladurantaye, who left in April after two and a half years to become the managing editor of digital news at CBC.
“I’ve worked for many years in both the media and in politics,” Hollett told the Financial Post. “The fact that I’ve spent years in these areas and — also important — many years as an active Twitter user gives me a broad perspective on how our partners can use Twitter more effectively.”
Hollett comes to Twitter with experience in a variety of sectors. She was the NDP candidate for the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale in the 2015 federal election and digital director for Olivia Chow’s 2014 Toronto mayoral campaign. Before that, Hollett was a reporter and producer at CBC, CTV and Much Music, where she won awards for her coverage of the 2010 G20 Summit and her reporting in Israel and Palestine. Most recently, Hollett has been an associate at the Atkinson Foundation in Toronto.
Now Hollett will be working with news outlets, political organizations and government agencies to help them find the best ways to use Twitter. This includes building relationships with editors and journalists, an important demographic for Twitter Inc. as users continue to turn to the service for real-time news from trusted sources.
“A key element of my role is going to be ensuring that our partners are aware of the latest Twitter tools and how they can use them to connect with Canadians in a more engaging and immersive fashion,” Hollett said Monday. “My primary role will be working with media outlets, government officials and other organizations across Canada on how they can use Twitter more effectively.”
Also starting Monday at Twitter Canada is Laura Pearce as the country’s first head of consumer marketing. She comes from Blue Ant Media, where she was vicepresident of brand strategy.
“We’re thrilled to have Jennifer join our team as we continue to make deep investments in Canada as a market,” said Rory Capern, managing director of Twitter Canada, in a statement to the Financial Post. “It’s a rare opportunity that you get to add somebody the calibre of Jennifer to a workplace. Paired with other recent additions, such as our new consumer marketing lead Laura Pearce, we now have a deeper bench of talent to service our users and partners across Canada.”
These recent hires by Twitter Canada follow moves by the company to improve its stagnant user growth through new features — such as heavy video expansion and stickers — while also offering new tools to filter out people using the platform for harassment. Hollet said these new offerings will go hand-in-hand with her daily workflow.
“Long-term, one of my big goals is going to be ensuring that our Canadian users continue to see Twitter as a great communications platform,” she said. “A place where ideas, information and opinions can be shared in an open and safe environment.”