Alison Clarke, chief executive of Shandwick Welbeck, has been
elected Institute of Public Relations president for the year 2000.
Swept in with 266 of the 563 votes cast for three candidates, she will
be the sixth woman to serve as president in the IPR’s 50-year
history.
Rob Brown, Leedex managing director and John Gray, British Red Cross
marketing director, also stood and took 154 and 143 votes
respectively.
Clarke said the increasing number of women within the industry made it
appropriate for a woman to lead the IPR into the Millennium.
’We must look beyond the Millennium to shape an institute that is
vibrant, fleet of foot, receptive and energetic,’ she said. Clarke, who
has been involved in the IPR for the past five years, said education and
training were key to the role of the institute. ’The IPR needs to become
more relevant to its members because the environment that we are working
in is changing,’ said Clarke.
Clarke joined Shandwick Welbeck in 1985 as an account executive. She was
appointed chief executive in August 1997, after having joined the board
in 1990.
Her experience covers consumer and corporate communications, issues and
crisis management and pan-European campaign strategies and
coordination.
Meanwhile, John Lavelle, steps down this week as IPR director-general
after being in the post for 14 years.
Colin Farrington, who was director of the Institute of Revenues, Rating
and Valuation, the professional body for local authority finance and
taxation, fills his post.
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