Eleanor McMahon, Founder
Eleanor McMahon is a communications and marketing professional with over 20 years experience. Ms. McMahon’s work includes senior corporate communications and marketing roles in the private, public and non-for profit sectors. She spent the early part of her career on Parliament Hill in roles of increasing responsibility including that of Press Secretary to the Right Honorable Jean Chrétien.
She has worked at Director, Public Affairs, Petro-Canada, as Vice President Communications and Marketing at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Vice President Marketing and Communications at United Way Ottawa/Centraide Ottawa. Eleanor has a vast network of media contacts across the country, and has core expertise in media, public relations, marketing, event management and advocacy. She is fluently bilingual.
Ms. McMahon is currently Principle of her own communications and marketing consultancy – McMahon Communications. But her real passion is as Founder of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition.
Following the death of her husband, OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart -- killed tragically in a cycling collision in June 2006 -- Ms. McMahon has been working to engineer legislative change in Ontario and is leading the development of a provincial, grassroots cycling advocacy organization in Ontario -- the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. In November 2008, Greg’s Law was tabled in the Ontario legislature as part of a larger Road Safety Bill, Bill 126 and it passed on April 22nd, 2009.
Ms. McMahon is a frequent speaker on active transportation, most recently at the 2008 National Bike Summit in Washington, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists, the 2008 National Bike Rally in Maine and the Toronto Bike Summit (2009). She continues to visit a number of jurisdictions in the United States and Europe to study best practices in cycling accommodations, law enforcement approaches, legislative, and education and awareness programs and is currently working on organizing the Ontario Bike Summit (September 21-22) in Waterloo Ontario.
When she’s not working on cycling policy Eleanor occasionally finds time to ride her bike, a pastime she has enjoyed since childhood.