In 2023, Ghana’s business landscape faced numerous challenges, including economic volatility, worsening currency depreciation and the lingering impacts of the global pandemic. Amidst these hurdles, many organisations have increasingly turned to lean staff to navigate the complexities and achieve targets efficiently. 

With resources stretched thin and uncertainties abound, businesses have recognised the need for agile and cost-effective operational solutions. Unfortunately, when businesses are faced with these economic uncertainties, the support functions such as communications departments in organisations are always the first to be downsized. 

As a result of these actions, communications practitioners are compelled to take up additional responsibilities to bridge the human resource gaps created due to the evolving operational models of their employers. Despite the increasing expectations of PR practitioners, women in the industry are going the extra mile to position themselves as the driving force behind innovative strategies, impactful campaigns, and communications efforts that support their business goals.

In the past seven (7) years, Women in PR Ghana has served as a mouthpiece for championing the invaluable contribution of women in the public relations industry. The dedication of these practitioners has elevated the strategic role of the practice across diverse sectors. 

It is against this background that the lenses of the jury have been scanning the various platforms for the captivating campaigns, resilient approach to crisis and the ability of these distinguished practitioners to leverage on emerging platforms to enhance their communication strategies. 

As Women in PR Ghana unveil the Top 10 PR practitioners for 2023, we believe it is an opportune moment to reflect on the profound contribution and significance of women shaping the business environment and nurturing brands that attract the affection and loyalty of its target markets. 

In the 2023 edition of our Top 10 Women in PR Ghana, we received 46 nominations from the PR community, after which a five member jury was tasked to review and shortlist the entries based on the below criteria:   

• Must be working or practicing public relations or communications with at least six (6) years’ experience 
• Must have planned and executed successful campaigns for their organizations and/or clients
• Must have used various mediums (traditional and new media) to share their works as Public Relations Professionals
• Must have been recognized through nominations and awards either on their own behalf or on behalf of their organisations or clients
• Must have engaged in speaking opportunities
• Must have mentored, educated, and supported other PR professionals
• Must have led and championed campaigns that have informed the general public about public relations in Ghana and beyond

In the year under review, these are the women who went the extra mile to use various platforms to communicate their impact stories and lead their organisations to shape their brand narratives.   

Here is our top 10 PR Women in Ghana for the year 2023:  

1. Gifty Bingley 
2. Ivy Heward-Mills 
3. Shirley Tony Kum
4. Georgina Asare Fiagbenu
5. Dr. Paulina Kuranchie
6. Praise Nutakor
7. Emma Wenani
8. Maame Akua Amoah Twum 
9. Laila Abubakari
10. Sandra Amarquaye

Gifty Bingley (Senior Communications Officer / Head of Public Information – AMISOM/ATMIS African Union)

With over 20 years of practice in the communications industry, Gifty Osei Boakye Bingley has been one of the phenomenal female voices amplifying the outstanding abilities of women in the PR and Communications industry. 

She is a seasoned Communications and Strategy Executive with a wealth of experience in diverse fields, including external communications, public affairs, international relations, government relations, strategic planning, communications strategy and journalism. 

In her current role, she continues to lead transformative internal and external communications strategies to promote her organization’s mission and foster goodwill.

In 2023, Gifty was an influential leader in the PR industry who showcased her expertise by constantly and strategically sharing insights into diverse fields and areas relevant to the PR and Communications practice. Through the #LessonsAlongMyJourney, Gifty has leveraged on her digital platforms to share her expertise on her career and leadership journey. 

Gifty was a one of the speakers at the 7th Women in PR Ghana Summit 2023 where she led a masterclass on the topic: “PR Women and Leadership: Our role in Enhancing Reputation, Influencing the Narrative for Career Success”.

Through the #LeadershipExcellenceSeries and #CareerLegacy, Gifty uses her social media platforms to mentor and empower women by spotlighting phenomenal professionals excelling and making strides in their careers. Gifty also uses her platform to spotlight young female entrepreneurs who manage Small Medium Enterprises by projecting their works, efforts and contribution in their respective industries. 

Gifty Bingley’s ability to successfully navigate her career and deliberately inspire others with her journey to drive change and transformation establishes her as a pioneering figure in the public relations industry.

Ivy Heward- Mills (Director, Center for International Education and Collaboration, University of Professional Studies, Accra)

Ivy Heward-Mills is an agile renowned communications strategist known in the industry for her depth in international protocol and cross-cultural etiquette expertise. 

In the year under review, Ms. Heward-Mills participated in several speaking engagements, key among which was her participation at the Commonwealth Trade and Investment summit organized by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. 

Ivy was also a speaker at the 2023 Women in PR Ghana annual summit where she thrilled participants with an enchanting presentation on the topic ‘‘Mind the gap; bridging the gap between your online brand and the real you with business etiquette.” She also had an engagement at the UPSA 2023 School of Graduate Studies Practitioners forum themed ‘‘The key to sustainable growth in a competitive business environment.”

Her topic centered on ‘‘Business Etiquette; Standard for Building Sustainable Business Relationships.”

Ivy also mentored several professionals to develop their leadership skills for career growth.

Shirley Tony Kum (Corporate Communications Manager, Vivo Energy, Shell)

Shirley has over the past 15 years positioned herself as a household name in the PR industry. 

In 2023, Shirley once again led her organization Vivo Energy (Shell) to roll-out yet another impactful series of projects and activities to reinforce their commitment to the sales of sustainable energies. Although some of the projects are annual in nature, the creative and innovative approach to Shirley’s work results in the introduction of fresh perspectives to these projects.

Shirley led the Vivo Energy Road Safety Campaign, an initiative that enables the brand and its partner, the National Road Safety Commission, to engage commercial drivers across the country on the safety precautions to be taken when driving. As part of the campaign, Shirley the innovator, introduced the health dimension to the campaign where drivers were taken through routine health checks. The project exemplifies the Vivo brand’s in-depth knowledge of the needs of a section of their target market, commercial drivers. 

Shirley, who doubles as the Honorary Secretary for the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana, scooped several awards for herself and the Vivo Energy brand. She was named CSR Practitioner of the year at the 10th edition of the CSR Excellence awards for her sterling initiatives. She also led her organization, Vivo Energy to win two awards and be named the CSR Company for the Year for its “Stop, Think and Drive” road safety campaign. 

As a guest lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UNIMAC, GIJ), Shirley  shared expert knowledge on Communications and Public Relations practice. She also served as guest speaker at the graduation ceremony of University of Media, Arts and Communication (UNIMAC, GIJ). 

Georgina Asare Fiagbenu (Senior Communications Officer, MTN Ghana)

Georgina Asare Fiagbenu is the Head, Corporate Communications for MTN Ghana. In her role, she is responsible for internal and external communications, media relations, community relations, stakeholder management, and leadership communications. She also leads the team to communicate the activities of the MTN Ghana Foundation and Mobile Financial Services (MTN Mobile Money).

In 2023, the brand under the MTN Ghana Foundation arm launched the MTN Skills Academy to train over 100,000 Ghanaian youth with digital skills by 2025. The brand also celebrated newborn babies at Damongo St Anne’s Catholic Hospital as part of its annual Christmas celebration.

Aside the steller role played in the communication and visibility efforts of these initiatives, Georgina dedicated time and resources towards the education of the public on the significance of time keeping. Through the Timekeeping Dialogue Series, an initiative under the Transformational Leadership Concepts (TLC), the Ace communicator held several online conversations with renowned leaders on the essence of effective time management in the journey to success. 

Additionally, on World PR Day in 2023, her initiative the TLC partnered Handwriting Communications to organize a Public Relations Roundtable event on the topic of “Changing the Scenes of Public Relations: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.”

Georgina scooped two awards at the Women edition of the 3rd Ghanaweb Excellence Awards. She was honored with the Excellence in Media and Communications award for her exceptional contribution to the media and communication industry and Humanitarian of the Year, for her dedication to humanitarian causes and impact in the lives of many. 

Paulina Kuranchie, PhD (Corporate Communications Lecturer and Consultant)

Dr. Paulina Kuranchie is an accomplished Strategic Communications practitioner, researcher and lecturer known for her dedication to ‘‘decolonising’’ PR and her contributions to communications practices. Paulina Kuranchie, PhD straddles academia and industry and maintains the balance both sides bring in growing the PR profession across the continent. She has been impactful with her research in PR and mentoring/training of PR professionals across the continent. 

In 2023, Dr. Kuranchie set herself a personal goal to make an impact across Africa. She had the opportunity to train and speak with PR professionals in Ghana and across Africa. She also was a facilitator for the Comms Avenue’s Comms Intensive program and the World Communication Forum’s Africa summit in November 2023, with participants from across Africa. 

Additionally, she served as a facilitator and speaker for in-country PR training/events. She has also mentored professionals not only in the PR space but across sectors and served twice as a mentor in the SheRocks mentorship program, aimed at helping women get back into the workforce after a career break. 

Her role as a PR educator has impacted the lives of the PR professionals she trains and mentors. 

Dr. Kuranchie has also been involved in groundbreaking research into decolonising PR in Africa for her PhD thesis. The research responds to how PR professionals can own PR practice by incorporating indigenous knowledge into the practice for maximum benefit to the continent.

Praise Nutakor (Head of Communications and Partnerships, UNDP Ghana)

Praise Nutakor is a communications expert with over 15 years experience in communications and partnership strategy development and implementation. She is known in the PR and Communications industry as “Madam SDG” because of her passionate approach to conversations on the Sustainable Development Goals. She is also known for her consistent support and grooming of young professionals. 

In the year under review, Praise led her organisation to roll-out the Youth Sounding Board initiative to offer the youth the opportunity to contribute to sustainable development, particularly in Africa. The platform which brings together influential youth advocates, and individuals is to ensure that the voices of Ghana’s young population are heard, considered, and integrated into UNDP’s programmes. 

Passionate about youth development, Praise also had a capacity training session on self-discovery, planning and execution for National Service personnel at the UNDP.

As part of UNDP’s advocacy on sustainable environment, Praise led her team for a  #BeatPlasticPollution Twitter Chat to mark the 2023 World Environment Day. 

Praise served as a Speaker at the annual Women in PR summit and shared expert knowledge on the topic ‘‘Measuring PR impact; A practical approach.”

During a training session organised for staff of UNDP in Johannesburg, Praise presented best communications practices used by her team at UNDP Ghana.  Praise also facilitated a session with the research team and advisory committee on data visualization and communications. The session focused on the importance of visual storytelling with data and the use of interactive platforms to effectively share key messages from the findings for impact.

Emma Wenani (Chief Director, Global Media Alliance)  

Emma Wenani is a Communications Professional (Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Project Management and Events Management) with over 14 years’ experience working in different capacities at Senior Management Level in mainly Consulting and Media Firms.

She currently oversees the Communication and Consulting units at Global Media Alliance Group as its Chief Director, leading her teams in providing strategic and objective advisory services to the clients they work with. The team currently works with and services clients in telecommunication, banking, agriculture, non-governmental, nutrition, government, technology industries among others. 

In the year under review, Emma led her team to roll out a series of activities – Twitter Spaces on key PR topics, Slush Events such as the ESG and Sustainability Night, PR x the Next Generation of Women, and the World PR Day Festival Summit to mark the 2023 World PR Day. The activities also included a PR Masterclass for start-up businesses, a social impact programme to build and support the young business community who need market awareness and brand building. Emma served as a panelist at the World Public Relations Day Festival Summit where she shared insightful submissions around the art of storytelling, navigating cultural shifts, and the power of real-time monitoring. 

Emma also participated in the Comms Avenue Batch six (6) of the Mentorship programme as a mentor and also joined the Mentor Career Stories workshop  in her capacity as mentor for the programme. 

Emma was also elected as Chairperson for the Kenyans in Ghana Association. Her vision for the Kenyans in Ghana Community is to foster an inclusive platform that promotes cultural exchange, mentorship, and exciting investment opportunities. 

Maame Akua Amoah Twum  (Communications Coordinator for Anglophone West and North Africa, Afrobarometer)

Maame Akua Amoah Twum is a dynamic Communications professional, admired for her prowess in data communication and research. Maame has over the years gone beyond the technician and strategic communication role played by communicators in every organization. She has immense herself in research, the core function of Afrobarometer. 

In the year under review, Maame Akua co-authored 15 publications on various social issues across Africa. The publications cover issues such as government’s protection of the environment, gender-based violence, free and fair elections, climate change, corruption among others.   

Maame Akua also facilitated several peer learning sessions, key among them was a session she led on respecting the structure of a press release and other common nuances and dissemination deliverables and strategies for maximum visibility and impact during a three (3) day training for the communications personnel of Afrobarometer’s national partners. Maame was instrumental in assisting the Afrobarometer national partners in her region (and in some instances, outside her region) in planning and executing impactful data dissemination engagements with key stakeholders.  

She also served as a speaker at several local and international events, including the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research regional seminar,  and a stakeholder training on governance, democracy and human rights in Africa themed ‘‘Empowering Pan-African civil society to effectively use data to enhance advocacy. She also joined other high profile speakers to share her rich experience in Civil Society Organisations’ contribution to driving accountability in the fight against corruption in Africa.

Laila Abubakari (External Communications Manager, Electricity Company of Ghana)

Laila won the hearts of many Ghanaians in the year 2023 for her impeccable media relations prowess. It is public knowledge that ECG is one of the most difficult brands to lead communications, because of the essential service they provide to the country.

In the year under review, Laila brought some spice and freshness to the ECG brand. The brand improved its customer response and adopted the use of digital platforms for convenient service delivery. This led to the launch of the ECG mobile application. The nationwide integrated marketing communications approach to the campaign proved that Laila and her team understood the communication needs of their consumers. 

Laila served as a member of the founding committee responsible for the planning and execution of the ECG Fempower outreach. Fempower, launched under the auspices of Power Queens Club, sought to mentor and train 150 women in ECG to develop their leadership skills and prepare themselves to assume leadership roles. The programme also has a scholarship scheme to sponsor ten (10) brilliant but needy girls in electrical engineering and computer science through their first degree, leading to possible job placements with ECG. 

As part of her personal development, Laila was selected as a mentee to participate in the Global Women in PR(GWPR) Empower programme, an international leadership and mentoring programme.

Sandra Amarquaye (Corporate Communications Manager, Karpowership Ghana)

Sandra has over the period developed her brand as an authority on the strategic role Corporate Social Responsibility plays in positioning brands to achieve social license for its business operations. As part of Karpower’s Corporate Social Responsibility, Sandra led her organisation to initiate a scholarship scheme and awarded mechanical, electrical and engineering students of Takoradi Technical University in the Western region.  

In the spirit of mentorship, she also led her brand to mark the 2023 International Women’s Day celebration by hosting the female engineering students of Takoradi Technical University on their operational facility. 

Sandra and her team also took steps to hand over a revamped school block to the people of Ngyeresia, Sekondi in the Western region. Sandra participated in several speaking engagements and key among them was the 2023 Emerge conference organized by the International Central Gospel Church.

Limitations and Challenges:

The challenges faced by the Jury haven’t been different from previous years. Although many professionals are contributing immensely to some of the most phenomenal campaigns, they share very scanty information on their work. While our work mostly puts us behind the scenes, it has become important for PR and Communication professionals to have updated Linkedin profiles and leverage social media platforms to build their personal brands. We noticed this as one of the challenges as we researched for additional data to support the entries received. 

Conclusion

As an organisation, it is our hope to use these listings to spotlight more women to serve as role models and mentors in our bid to increase female leadership in the PR industry in Ghana, the African continent and the world at large. 

Jury Members

1. Faith Senam Ocloo – Founder Women in PR Ghana
2. Yvette Kuwornu – Communications Specialist, GIZ Ghana/ Ghanaian- European Centre
3. Whitney Boakye Mensah – Managing Partner, Innovations Events WBM & 3Music Women’s Brunch
4. Josephine Appiah – Nyamekye Sanny, Acting Director of Communications,  Afrobarometer 
5. Ohenewaa Brown – Communications Coordinator, Women in PR Ghana