Sandra Upeslacis is an award-winning public relations expert.  She has advised many of Canada 's leading public and private sector organizations including Royal Bank, the Bank of Montreal, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and Calgary Economic Development, to name just a few.  Sandra has successfully assisted organizations in building a good reputation, enhancing positive profile and getting the right message out to the right people at the right time.

As President of IDEASPEAK, Sandra Upeslacis provides strategic public relations counsel to her clients. Prior to establishing her own company in 1999, Sandra was Vice President of NATIONAL Public Relations, Canada's largest public relations firm.  She was responsible for senior client counsel, brand awareness building, corporate positioning, communications training and niche marketing for such companies as Nokia Canada , Kraft Canada , White Mountain Academy of the Arts, and Nordic Selfcare Institute.  Prior to NATIONAL Public Relations, Sandra was Vice President at Strategic Objectives, one of the country’s foremost consumer marketing public relations firms. She led key accounts such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Toronto -Dominion Bank, Tropicana Canada and Johnson & Johnson, among others.

Sandra has also held the positions of: Manager of Communications, the Ontario Premier’s Council; Editor of Ottawa Woman magazine; Associate Editor, Ottawa Magazine; Senior Reporter for OMNI Television’s Sveiks program; Writer, for the National Research Council’s Science Dimension magazine; Associate Producer, First Video Productions; and Producer/Host at CKCU-FM radio, in Ottawa.

Sandra is active in the Latvian-Canadian community.  She was a lead member of the organizing committee for "Latvians in the New World", a June 2005 charitable event to establish the Vaira Vike-Freiberga Endowment Fund providing scholarships to students in Latvia in honour of the President of Latvia.

Her awards include:  Best Law Firm Client Newsletter in “Your Honour” International Competition, National Association of Law Firm Marketing Administrators, awarded for developing Gowling, Strathy & Henderson’s Communiqué newsletter, 1990; and Best Producer, Public Affairs Program, CKCU-FM, 1981.

Building business and community support for Aldaris' "Zelta," a new imported beer from Latvia.