Chief Executive Officer of Stratcomm Africa, Esther A.N Cobbah, has been appointed to the Board of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

The seventeen-member Board, drawn from the Association’s global membership, was inaugurated in Vienna, Austria on February 23. Esther is the first member of the Board from Africa South of the Sahara.

Svetlana Stavreva, External Relations Manager, Global Technology Services (GTS), IBM Europe and Official Member of the Forbes Communications Council was also installed in Vienna, Austria, as President of the IPRA on 22nd February 2019 for the next year.  The IPRA board is the governing body of the association.

The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) was founded 60 years ago, when in the late 1940s several Dutch and British Public Relations (PR) practitioners discussed the notion of organizing Public Relations professionals into a transnational society. The objective was to raise standards of Public Relations practice worldwide and improve the quality of PR practitioners. IPRA was formally established in London on 1 May 1955.

Introducing the new Board to their responsibilities, the Secretary General of IPRA, Philip Shephard said, “The International Public Relations Association brings together Public Relations practitioners from all over the world. We expect that Board members will be at the forefront of ensuring the highest standards of practice amongst our members and the industry at large. We commend all members of the new board on their appointment which reflects the esteem in which they are held by their peers.”

President of IPRA, Svetlana Stavreva, says, “Esther has contributed significantly to the work of IPRA throughout the years of her membership. Over the last several years she has served as a judge in respect of the Golden World Awards. I am very pleased to have her on the Board during the period of my Presidency and I have no doubt that she will contribute important insights in our deliberations as a Board.” 

The Stratcomm Africa Chief Executive, says, “It is gratifying to serve on the Board of the International Public Relations Association. More so at a time when Stratcomm Africa is soon going to be celebrating 25 years of our existence. I look forward to contributing to the growth of IPRA as well as to the maintenance of high professional standards among public relations practitioners through my membership on this Board.

“I intend particularly to articulate the perspectives of Public Relations practitioners from Africa, thereby ensuring that these feature prominently in the outlook of the association. There is no doubt about the important contributions that Public Relations can make to Africa’s development and we will be able to draw from the wealth of resources offered by this global platform for Public Relations,” she added.