About Joe Burnieika
Joe Burnieika is Vice President of External Affairs for Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Boston. He has held the post since June 2009.
Today, Burnieika is Vice President of External Affairs for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston. He is in charge of all development, fund raising, special events and planned giving activities at the agency. He also has responsibility for all marketing and public relations, all grants and foundations outreach and the volunteer community of the institution. He regularly assists the President in board relations and is a key member of the senior management team.
Joe Burnieika was the Director of Development for DotWell. He was in charge of all fund raising activities for this major non-profit collaboration between the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center and the Codman Square Health Center. He managed all major fund raising events, outreach to major funders including City, State, and Federal requests as well as private foundations. His experience in marketing and communications served him well as he was also responsible for the branding and public image of DotWell. He also served as board member and board chair of both DotWell and the Dorchester House Multi-Service center.
Burnieika was a founding partner of Burnieika/Turner Communications and partner or owner of several other agencies. Over the past decade he has worked in a number of capacities at both agencies he has owned, as well as for independent companies. Whether consulting or building a business from scratch, Joe has consistently been responsible for directing the development and implementation of corporate communications, crisis management, community and governmental relations programs, as well as hospitality, consumer goods and health care campaigns, for a wide variety of clients including Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson and McDonald’s
Joe was president of Arnold Public Relations in the mid-1980s. During his tenure, he was responsible for developing the public relations company at Arnold Advertising from a net loss division to one billing more than $3 million annually. By 1989 he was one of four equal owners of Arnold Advertising; when the four partners sold the company to Ed Eskanderian that same year, Joe opened his first public relations agency, The Burnieika Group. Prior to his post at Arnold, Joe began his public relations career as an account supervisor for the Adolph Coors beer account at Clarke & Co., Boston.
His decision to pursue work within the agency side of PR was logical given the valuable national media experience Joe gained while directing the public relations efforts in New England for Senator John Glenn's presidential bid in 1984. Prior to his presidential efforts, he served the Massachusetts State Government as director of public relations for the Executive Office of Energy Resources in both Governor Edward King's and Governor Michael Dukakis' administrations.
Joe was one of an elite group selected to develop and implement the original court order governing the transportation and assignment of students in the landmark Boston desegregation case. He also served as public relations advisor and chief spokesperson for the Boston Public Schools during that most turbulent era.
As an adjunct professor of mass communications at Emerson College in Boston, Joe has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in public relations, ethics, media relations and crisis management.
Joe has a master's degree in administration from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. A native of Boston, Joe lives on the south shore with his wife, Maureen.
