Women in PR Ghana holds 5th annual summit

Women in PR Ghana, an organization that seeks to bring together communications practitioners and students has held its fifth annual summit dubbed “Five Years of Changing the Narrative for Female Communications Practitioners.”

The hybrid-themed edition took place over two days with a virtual session on Day One and Day Two was held at the Fitzgerald in Cantonments. The event brought together communications professionals from various sectors both private and public and students.

The two-day event started off with the virtual session on Zoom and streamed Live on Facebook on Friday, July 9, 2021.

The speakers for the Day One session were Nana Essilfuah Tamakloe, Marketing and Corporate Relations Director, Absa Bank Ghana; Dr. Linda Deigh, Academic Director, Webster University Ghana Campus; and Cornelia Kunze, Chair, Global Women in PR International Board and President of GWPR, Germany. The speakers shared a plethora of knowledge on ‘PR women and leadership: Aspiring to the C-suite’ and the need to ‘Lead with a Global Mindset.’ This was hosted by Pamela Boateng, the PR Officer at SIC Life Company Limited.

On Day Two, various experienced speakers presented on topics such as Public Relations in the Business of influence, How PR professionals can leverage their influence for their organisations; Using Digital to create a work-life integration as communicators; Diversity and Inclusion: Leveraging your value and skills for a seat at the table” and a Panel discussion on “The power struggle between Journalists and Public Relations Professionals”.

The speakers drew participants’ attention to the essence of adding value and growing one’s skill in the PR profession. The Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Manager, Nestle Ghana, Deborah Kwablah indicated that there is a need for PR professionals to always be proactive.

The Content Marketing and Communications Consultant, Vickie Romeo shared experiences and the need for organisations to incorporate digital media strategies in their day-to-day activities. The Global Director Talent Management, Inclusion and Diversity, Newmont Mining Corporation, Beatrice Opoku-Asare stated that there is the need for PR professionals to identify their values and what they bring to the table to excel in the industry.

The Panelists shared varied views on the importance of collaborative working between journalists and PR professionals in the communications industry. Moderated by Pamela Boateng, the panel included Dzifa Bampoh, Media Personality, Media General; Rosemond Aryeetey, Head of Corporate Affairs, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center; Henry Nii Dottey, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, UBA Ghana and Ebenezer Amankwah, Communications Manager, Ghana Grid Company.

The founder of Women in PR Ghana, Faith Senam Ocloo, also called for greater partnerships to support professionals and students.

She said, “Many young professionals and students are looking for opportunities to connect with industry people,” adding that the summit has been very impactful over the years due to the feedback received from participants every year.

This year’s summit was supported by MTN Ghana, Webster University Ghana Campus, Vivo Energy Ghana, NutriDay, Superyogo, Excelsis, Presentation Plus and iconceptpr.

Women in PR Ghana Summit which was first organised in July 2017 and has run for five consecutive years. It has carved a niche as the leading professional networking events and given a voice to women in the Ghanaian Public Relations and communications industry.