Our Governance and Board

IPRA is governed by a geographically-representative Board of senior PR professionals from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. It is administered by a Secretary General and a Member Services Manager.

Board 2024

Natasa Pavlovic – President

Nataša is Serbian and founder of Blumen group, an agency for integrated communications and business consulting, based in Belgrade. She has more than 25 years of experience in strategic communications, brand development and market positioning. She has won national and international awards, including the GWA Grand Prix. She is a 2022 alumna of the Fortune US Department of State global women's mentoring partnership. In the last ten years Nataša has worked as a business coach and gives guest courses and lectures in Europe and the US.

Nigel Chism – Treasurer

Nigel Chism is British and finance director of Kajima. Educated at the John Lyon School and the University of Westminster, he qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in 1979. He served with the reserve forces in The Royal Green Jackets. He is a member of the Garrick, a freeman of the City of London and liveryman of the Wheelwrights’ Company. He still sometimes plays drums.

Philip Sheppard – Secretary General and a Past President

Philip is British and as secretary general he is responsible for the day to day running of the association. He is a graduate economist and previously worked with Shell in London, Dublin and Dubai. After running his own communications company, he worked as a consultant for Ernst & Young in Switzerland and as a lobbyist for the European Brands Association in Brussels. Philip is a freeman of the City of London and was IPRA president in 2007.

Esra Chism

Esra is British and CEO of ERISKAY02 PR. She has extensive experience providing PR and marketing services in London for business between the UK and Turkey. Esra’s career has included roles at EDS-BOX, The Walt Disney Company and Adaytum. She holds a degree in fine art and is a member of the London Chamber of Commerce. Esra is the UK editor for Turkey Magazine.

Esther Cobbah

Esther is Ghanaian and CEO of the award-winning communications agency, Stratcomm Africa. She was previously external affairs manager for the West African Gas Pipeline Project and public affairs manager for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. In all these roles she has developed innovative communication approaches to address organisational needs. Esther is a graduate of the University of Ghana Legon and Cornell University, USA.

Elena Fadeeva

Elena is a distinguished international leader in business management and strategic communications. With a background in corporate law and business management, she has successfully founded several market-leading ventures, including in cooperation with global brands of Omnicom Group Inc. Today she is focused on such areas as application of artificial intelligence, fintech, and other areas of innovation, both in emerging and established markets.

Edd Fuentes

Edd, a Filipino national, is the founder and president of FuentesManila, one of the leading PR agencies in the Philippines. Prior to establishing the company, he worked with J. Walter Thompson as creative director servicing their client Unilever. Edd was as an IPRA council member from 2009 – 2011 and has served previous terms on the board.

Alain Grossbard OAM

Alain is Australian and since 2011 has been an educator in public relations at RMIT University, Melbourne. He has worked in numerous senior roles in the energy industry nationally and internationally. Alain is past president of the Public Relations Institute of Australia Victoria division, as well as a national board member. He has won national and international awards and has been a recipient of a GWA. Alain is a Fellow of the International Specialized Skills Institute.

Anne-Gret Iturriaga Abarzua – Past President

Anne-Gret is Austrian and since 2008 head of communications for INEOS in Cologne, Germany where she is responsible for internal and external communications, community relations, lobbying, emergency response and corporate social responsibility. She holds a PhD in communication and publicity from the University of Vienna, and a degree in marketing and PR from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Anne-Gret is a Master in neuro-linguistic programming and active in certain national PR bodies.

Jim Mcqueeny

Jim is a US national and chairman of Winning Strategies now merged with EFK Group. The company is a strategic communications firm based in Newark, New Jersey which seeks to integrate political strategy with advertising, public relations and digital content. Jim leads IPRA’s activities at the UN Department of Global Communication in New York.

Enric Ordeix

Enric is Catalan and Dean of EAE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He is also a professor of corporate and international public relations and the academic director of MA-strategic management in global communication, and he works part time at Emerson College, Boston, USA.

Jacqueline Purcell

Jacqueline has Irish and British citizenship. She serves as the IPRA UK and Ireland Chapter Chair. A president at Toastmasters International, she is CEO of Jasper Alliance London, and holds post-graduate degrees in research and education. She received recognition from British Expertise for Outstanding International Leadership on development projects. She offers consultation to the UN and NGOs. She is the author of Modern International PR & Mass Media Programme and other educational books.

Daniel Silberhorn

Daniel is German and a senior sustainability/ESG and communications advisor at SLR consulting in Germany. He holds a masters degree in public relations from Manchester Metropolitan University and certificates in Business Sustainability Management and Impact Communication by CISL, UK. Daniel also teaches global communications at Erfurt University, Germany, for the international PR education program Global Communications Project

Svetlana Stavreva

Svetlana is Bulgarian and and a former public relations and communication professional at IBM in Europe. She was IPRA President 2019-2020. Svetlana has a masters degree in economics from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria. She also holds a diploma from the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing. In her spare time she has been a journalist, lecturer and car racer.

Faisal Zahrani

Faisal Alzahrani is a Saudi national and a member of the Society of Organizational Learning, the Arab Society for Social Responsibility, and Toastmasters International. At Saudi Aramco, Faisal held management posts including manager of public relations and manager of Saudi Aramco affairs services, before he took early retirement in 2010. In 2015, Faisal worked at the Saudi Ministry of Health as a communications advisor to the Minister as well as head of Media & PR. He is currently working as a freelance PR consultant.