Judges

With a demonstrated 18-year track record in strategic planning and delivery, Alka specializes in Corporate Communications, Brand & Tactical Marketing, Media Relations, Reputation Management and Stakeholder Communications.

As Vice President, Destination Marketing & Communications for Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Alka is tasked with elevating the profile of the northern Emirate in the UAE and ultimately driving the destination’s vision of becoming a sustainable destination by 2025 and reaching 3 million visitors annually by 2030.

A travel and hospitality expert, Alka’s career has taken her from Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel to Accor, one of the largest hotel operators worldwide. It was during her time at Accor where she was the custodian of 30 brands and oversaw a portfolio of over 350 hotels across 36 countries.

Alka holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from McGill University in Canada. She is the recipient of numerous awards – Middle East’s Brightest & Most Influential PR Professional from PR Week (Power Book 2020), and PR & Marketing Person of the Year and Green Hotelier of the Year from Hotelier Middle East Magazine.

Aman has been at the forefront of global health for over two decades delivering integrated campaigns led by research, insights, and creativity with a focus on making an impact across stakeholders.

His substantial body of work has centred on educating, informing, and promoting support for global health, environment and health-tech initiatives to policymakers, public service leaders, and non-governmental organisations across the world.

Over the last two decades, he has built strong high-level working relationships with key decision and policymakers internationally and has been at forefront of leading the narrative of global health.

Aman has also been widely recognised for his work in the PR & Communications industry. He has been listed as one of the ‘Top 25 Innovators’ by Holmes Report, Asia-Pacific, for shaping influence and engagement in an era of dramatic marketing and communications disruption.

He was also listed in the PR Week Global PowerBook (2016 & 2017) as one of the brightest and most influential PR professionals around the world. He has been honoured with the title ‘Communicator of the Year’, for the Industry Association at the Fulcrum Awards 2017 and ‘public affairs professional of year-2022’ by Exchange4media.

Agung is Partner and Director, Strategy & Insights at RICE, a Singapore-based strategic communications consultancy with deep roots across Asia Pacific. Combining brand consulting expertise and an insights-led approach to communications, Agung has been a senior adviser to numerous Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 leaders in hospitality and real estate, technology, and e-commerce. He provides executive counsel on thought leadership; issues management and crisis response, including on M&A activities, data crisis, manpower impact, privacy, and business continuity; as well as internal communications. He also has experience in managing public outreach and engagement in international trade and social entrepreneurship.

Carolyn’s nearly two-decade career with Weber Shandwick in Southeast Asia, China, and the United States has provided her with broad worldwide expertise working on some of the firm’s largest, multi-market clients..

Carolyn is presently based in Singapore, overseeing regional and market responsibilities after spending time at Weber Shandwick’s global headquarters in New York.

She continues to oversee significant worldwide accounts for Weber Shandwick as a global and regional client experience leader, and she currently handles relationships with key corporate and technology customers. She is also the firm’s regional corporate and crisis practice leader.

Carolyn has spent a substantial amount of time educating C-level executives, sales teams, and communications heads, as well as NGO-focused organisations, in issues, crisis, story-telling skills, narrative and key messaging, and sales enablement training.

She was named one of Campaign’s Women to Watch in 2018 She is now the co-chair of PRCA Asia-Pacific and served on the Spikes Asia 2023 jury.

Caroline Hsu is a rarity among agency leaders. Her career of more than 25 years has spanned journalism and both marketing and communications leadership in the startup world and at global technology companies. As such, she has an ability to understand multiple perspectives that only comes from direct experience.

She became APAC Managing Director of The Hoffman Agency in 2017, overseeing nine markets. Since then, she has evolved the agency’s offering to one focused on integrated marketing communications (IMC) and solutions to business problems. This has led to consistent growth and recognition in the SABRE Awards as Tech Agency of the Year in 2021 and 2019.

Before joining The Hoffman Agency, Caroline was CMO of Appier, a Taiwanese AI unicorn that went public in 2021, and before that, Head of Communications for Google Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Claire is a seasoned international projects marketing and communications professional with over three decades of experience. She has worked all over the world, from Indonesia to Beijing, and all the way to Cleveland, Ohio, and Boise, Idaho via Madrid, Paris, Brussels, and London.

Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the last 17 years, Claire has been a key player in prestigious projects such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Formula One, Manchester City Football Club, the world’s largest species conservation programme, Sharjah Light Festival, and Expo 2020 Dubai to name a few.

Claire established Cosmopole in 2018 and thrives on providing pragmatic and empathetic communications solutions to help turn clients’ visions into reality. Her experience spans various industries and is wide-ranging, from hospitality, F&B, tourism, education, real estate, and infrastructure development to commerce, healthcare, fashion & beauty, arts & culture, wildlife conservation, sports sponsorship, and entertainment. Claire serves as an advisor to an Abu Dhabi government entity, a not-for-profit conservation fund established by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed, and is a board member for the PRCA MENA.

Danijel Koletić is the president of the PRCA Chapter for Southeast Europe. He is the winner of the UN and IPRA award for sustainable development goal number 10, reducing inequality, for the ”Soap with Dots” project. He is the president and founder of the International PRO PR Conference, with more than 150 projects. He was the director of the ”Gol Championship of Croatia”, ”WTA Croatia Lady’s Open”, ”Supermodel Croatia”, producer of television shows, and producer of the Eurovision winner, and composer Rajko Dujmić. He deals with consulting in the field of business development, crisis management, digital communication strategies, and public relations strategies.

In addition to regional clients in Southeast Europe, for the last 3 years, he has been a consultant to the PGME Harvard Medical School for the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

Edward is currently Senior VP of Client Services at Articulate Communications, specialising in the drinks industry throughout North America. His background includes roles as Consumer Managing Director at Golin London and leading WPP’s BCW Consumer brand team throughout EMEA, setting the tone post merger (now Burson). He began at Mission, an independent agency, becoming Managing Director.

Eleonora Albijanić has almost 30 years of experience in PR, Corporate Communications and CSR and holds a masters degree in media and PR. She has been covering different communication positions, from specialist to manager, in sectors of tourism, telecommunications and energy. She is also a PR and CSR trainer (1.300+ participants – all managerial levels in diverse environment: business, governmental, judicial, NGO etc.) and co-founder of Strugar & Albijanić Institute for communication, education and consulting which runs CEPI PR School.

As a communications consultant, Eleonora has been developing numerous communication strategies for different stakeholders.  She is PRCA Montenegro Chapter Chair from March 2023 and received a PRO PR award in 2012.

Ghaleb Zeidan is Regional Managing Director at Weber Shandwick MENAT, heading up UAE operations, as well as Culture, Learning & Development, and Partnership. He provides senior counsel to multiple clients and is passionate about both people and technology – including the roles they play in innovation and the transformation of effective communications.

Hilmarie is CEO of Matrix Public Relations.

She is a 20+ year veteran of communications and management, with experience in multiple regions including Australia, Denmark, South Africa, USA & UAE. Hilmarie counsels a wide range of clients, from various industries including finance, technology, retail, and fashion.

Hilmarie focuses her attention on supporting and building the team while driving the broader business objectives, planning, and strategy. She is well-traveled, multilingual, and has a Bachelor’s degree, which she completed summa cum laude.

Hilmarie has served as a judge for both regional and international public relations awards throughout the years.

Ipi has more than 18 years’ experience in communication and business development, with deep
knowledge of strategic communications across consumer and business-to-business, as well as media
relations.

Her strength lies in building teams focused on creative and strategic communications
initiatives and she has specific expertise in brand development, crisis and reputation management,
digital and social communications, stakeholder management and sustainability.

She previously spent five years at Deloitte focusing on a range of activities including strategic planning,
marketing, C-suite transition and employee engagement and has experience with organisations such
as The Nelson Mandela Foundation, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), The National
Empowerment Fund (NEF), and has worked with Non-Profit Organisations in the USA and India,
focusing on the development of communities across Southern Africa, sourcing and managing
sponsorship opportunities and funders.

Jamal is the Founder and Managing Director of Gambit Communications, and in just five years has disrupted the industry leading them to 60 trophy wins including seven agency of the year titles and international success in Cannes.

With over 17 years of PR experience across agency and client side, Jamal’s career before founding Gambit Communications took him to senior roles at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Dubai Holding. He has judged on industry panels for over ten years.

Jin is a firm believer of purpose-inspired, benefit-driven, and idea-led storytelling.

He is a digital-savvy and results-driven marketing and communications specialist with more than 25 years of holistic marketing communications and brand consultancy experience in agencies including Dentsu, BBDO, and DDB.

The businesses he has led include Singapore Kindness Movement, Land Transport Authority, Ministry of Trade and Industry, DBS, Gillette, Intel, Toyota, SkillsFuture Singapore, the Methodist Church in Singapore, Tiger Beer, ExxonMobil, Nokia, StarHub, Pfizer, and Mercedes-Benz.

Jin is now a co-owner and Managing Director of Distilleri Group Singapore.

Katja Fasink is a Chief Communication Officer at ELES System Operator of Republic Slovenia and ELES Group. She is chair of PRCA for Slovenia, awarded by DAVOS WCFA and PRO PR, nominated by Reuters, Charge and Energy Awards.

Contributing to science in communication, she’s an author of her communication theory “Rubber Bullet” and a lecturer in the media, society, and communication field.

Katja Fašink graduated from Oxford University’s Corporate Affairs Academy (Saïd Business School), Artificial Intelligence, and the Climate Emergency program. In 2022 Katja Fašink became a member of the Forbes Communications Council, where she leads the Corporate Reputation group.

Kwame is an award-winning PR consultant who has over 17 years of professional practice in Francophone Africa advising multinationals, regional champions, governments and non-profit. He is recognized for his deep understanding of publics in West and Central Africa and how to move them.

He is a vice chair at Brand Africa, an advisory council member at APRA as well a board member of PRCA Africa. He is the founder of Opinion & Public BCW.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/qwames  |  https://twitter.com/qwames

Lee is Archetype’s regional director for APAC and leads a team of more than 350 consultants across six countries in the region. He is responsible for helping to build the agency’s capabilities and profile as a provider of cutting-edge integrated communications consultancy. In 2020 & 2022, Archetype was named Best Large Agency to Work For and Consultancy of the Year at the APAC Sabre Awards, as well as 2022’s APAC Agency of the Future.

Lee is the former Chair of the PRCA SEA, the forerunner to PRCA APAC, where he is currently a board member. He is also member of the PRCA’s Global Advisory Board and sits on its Ethics Council.

In 2019 Lee was named by PRovoke as one of the APAC ‘Innovator 25’ and in 2022, Lee was made a Fellow of the PRCA (FPRCA) for his ‘outstanding contribution to global public relations’.

Maureen has over 30 years’ experience developing, managing and delivering results-driven communications activities for her clients. As managing director of Southeast Asia, Maureen’s is tasked with building a strong presence in this high-growth region. Her main remit is to support and grow multi-country integrated communications programs and high value-consulting for clients across various industries.

Having worked on many global and regional programs, Maureen also brings to the table a wealth of experience and an international perspective to her teams and clients. She enjoys training the next generation of communicators and gives regular talks at universities and other tertiary institutions. Maureen is also one of Campaign Asia’s Women to Watch for 2023 and the Institute of Public Relations Singapore’s (IPRS) Outstanding PR Leader for 2023.

Moliehi is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the public relations and reputation management sector. As the Managing Director of Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants since 2007, Moliehi has built a reputation as one of Africa’s leading advisors in this field.

With a proven track record of advising some of Africa’s blue-chip clients, Moliehi provides strategic counsel to boards and c-suite executives on critical reputational issues. She is known for her expertise in crisis management, having successfully navigated some of the country’s high-profile national crises under her leadership.

Moliehi’s leadership has been instrumental in Magna Carta’s success, with the agency winning numerous awards and being named the best mid-size agency of the year by the PRISM Awards in 2022. Her commitment to excellence is evident in her oversight of the agency’s Africa operations, which has a footprint in 18 markets across the continent.

As a visionary leader in her field, Moliehi is committed to driving the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in public relations and reputation management. Her extensive experience and strategic insights make her an invaluable asset to any organisation seeking to enhance its reputation and build stakeholder trust.

Moliehi sits on numerous boards, including Northam Booysendal Community Trust, as an independent trustee. Outside of South Africa, Moliehi is the non-executive director of BHM UK and part of the PRCA Global Advisory Board.

Nitin Mantri is the Regional Executive MD (APAC), WE Communications, and the Group CEO of Avian WE. He is a member of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)’s Global Advisory Board and Co-Chair of PRCA APAC and PRCA Ethics Council. He was the president of International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO) from 2019-2022, and the president of the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) from 2015 to 2020.

Nitin was inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame for his extensive PR insights, accomplishments, contributions to the advancement of PR, and consistent leadership in December 2022. He was recognised with Provoke News’s Individual Achievement SABRE Award at the APAC SABRE Awards in 2021. In 2015, he received the Global PR Leader of the Year Award at the ICCO Global Awards.

Paul Cohen is CEO, North America, for Milk & Honey PR. Paul has nearly three decades of communications experience in North America, Europe and Asia. His award-winning career has focused on reputation management, media relations, brand development and crisis communications.

Paul has represented a wide range of clients, from Fortune 100 corporations and sovereign governments, to venture-backed startups, VC and PE firms, and industry associations. Before joining Milk & Honey, Paul spent 17 years at Ketchum, where he was a partner and served in a number of senior global positions, in New York, Brussels, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Over the course of his career, Paul and his teams have won all major industry awards. He serves on the PRCA’s global advisory board and on the advisory board for the International Center for Journalists.

Preeti is a corporate communications and reputation management specialist, with more than 17 years’ experience working across various industry sectors in the UAE and beyond.

Preeti is currently the International Communications Director for Vaccines & Immune Therapies (V&I) at AstraZeneca, supporting MEA, Asia, LATAM and other regions with building and driving a narrative for V&I internally and externally, as well as leading disease awareness and patient unmet need campaigning. Prior to joining AstraZeneca three years ago, Preeti was Managing Director at Houbara Communications (formerly Grayling), and has also previously worked at Hill + Knowlton Strategies, where she began her career.

Samantha has over 20 years of experience in PR and integrated marketing. She is National Managing Director for Ogilvy South Africa and has held a number of leadership positions in communications at MSL, Magna Carta and Dimension Data.

Her client experience spans both corporate and consumer organizations based in South Africa and abroad. These include the likes of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Life Healthcare, P&G, South African Breweries, Afrocentric, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Deloitte, Momentum and Telkom and many more. Samantha motivated by mentoring and working with the new generation of PR professionals.

Vivian has over two decades of professional experience in the communications field, both agency and in-house, across corporate branding and marketing. Throughout her career, Vivian has been responsible for designing and implementing a diverse set of integrated marketing campaigns and initiatives for some of the world’s most prominent brands both in Taipei and the wider Greater China region. Vivian has led DeVries Global Taipei to work with many multinational brands including Heineken, Coca-Cola Group, CONVERSE, KLOOK, ROLEX, Jardine Restaurant Group, Scoot, Michelin and more.

She is regularly invited by universities, advertising agencies and corporations to share her expertise in the areas of PR and integrated marketing.