PROFILE OF DIANNE STEWART, APR
FULL NAME : DIANNE ENNIS STEWART
ADDRESS : 5617 PROVIDENCE GLEN RD
CHARLOTTE, NC 28270
DOB : March 23, 1960
CONTACT :
704-777-4842 (C)
980-225-0149 (F)
EMAIL :Di@bsapr.biz
MARITAL STATUS : Married to Dr Bruce Stewart and has two children Sarah (27) and Michael (23). Citizen of Ireland and RSA. USA Resident.
1.GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Dianne Ennis Stewart is currently the PR & Marketing Director of Speed Reading International, Inc, (DBA ExecuRead) based in Charlotte, NC and consults with other businesses through BSA Public Relations and Marketing a division of SRI, Inc. She is president of BSA Public Relations and Marketing.
She relocated with her husband and family to Charlotte in July 2001 to establish an office for Speed Reading International, Inc (SRI) in the United States. Dr Bruce W Stewart is the President of SRI which has offices in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Prior to arriving in Charlotte, she was the Managing Director of Bruce Stewart & Associates cc doing business as, BSA Public Relations & Event Management and the Marketing Director of Ulibambe Marketing and Corporate Communications cc, a strategic Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) alliance partner of BSA PR.
Dianne was actively involved in the professionalization of the practice of Public Relations in South Africa and served on various councils and boards at the Public Relations Institute of SA for over 10 years. She is the Immediate past Chairman of the Gauteng region of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa and is a registered Accredited Public Relations Practitioner (APR) with PRISA. Prior to her departure for the US , she was honored with a 10- year Long Service Award from the Institute.
Dianne has extensive experience in Public Relations campaigns, strategic planning and the planning of public relations programs for major organizations in South Africa, both locally and internationally.
She has worked in all major areas of the communications industry - within the consultancy arena, at a leading South African advertising agency and for a stock exchange listed company in the Anglovaal Industries Group, before starting her own PR company some 18 years ago.
2.CAREER BACKGROUND
2.1 PR CONSULTANCY EXPERIENCE
ADELE LUCAS PROMOTIONS : Account Executive, servicing clients like the Soweto Homemakers Festival during 1983/4, the launch of Fourways Gardens residential property development for Anglo American Properties, and the Kelly Personnel Group (1983 1985)
2.2 ADVERTISING AGENCY EXPERIENCE
BATES WELLS : Group Public Relations Executive, working on promoting the agency in the marketplace and working on a variety of clients like Nissan SA, Pfizer, and South African Breweries (now SABMiller) (1985 - 1986)
2.3 CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICRELATIONS.
CONSOL LTD : Communications Manager for 2 years.Reported to the Group Public Affairs Manager and was responsible for internal communications, production of the newsletters including corporate in-house newsletter Pakchat, marketing & advertising support and media relations.
Implemented the very first environmental awareness & recycling strategy in Africa and launched the program in South Africa to encourage consumers to conserve glass, paper and plastic for recycling purposes and waste management.
Researched and established the Consol Glass Museum in Talana, Dundee, (Kwa Zulu Natal) after buying pieces all over the world and which is now seen as an extremely valuable collection by collectors and connoisseurs alike. (1986 - 1988)
2.4ESTABLISHMENT OF OWN BUSINESS
DIANNE ENNIS PUBLIC Relations was founded by Dianne in 1988 and merged shortly afterwards with BRUCE STEWART EVENT MANAGEMENT to form BRUCE STEWART & ASSOCIATES cc, (BSA PR) a public relations, promotions & event management consultancy, ranked within the Top 21 PR Consultancies in South Africa by Financial Mail's Ad Focus.
Recently she started up this consultancy service in Charlotte, North Carolina for the purpose of consulting to the Crafting Cultural Understanding project for Harriet Sanford, principal consultant to the project.
Past Clients included :
·Daimler Chrysler SA : Mercedes-Benz, Honda & Colt consumer marketing roadshow exhibits
·S A Mint Company : Numismatic coin launches and collectables fairs
·The Star Video Hi-Fi & Photo Fair : exhibition director of Africa's largest consumer electronics expo
·Terrexko Limited : Annual Reports and Financial Reporting for company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
·Vilamoura Group of Portuguese Restaurants : Launch Opening of Vilamoura Pretoria & Vilamoura Camps Bay, Cape Town
·Newsclip, MTA Recruitment, Image Clinic, The Gary Player Group, IMG, Sports International, et al : consulting services in classical PR, media liaison, in-house newsletter, advertising, promotions.
·Rand Refinery Limited largest Gold Refinery in the world
·Media Liaison for the Millennium 2000 celebrations in Southern Africa working closely with the SA Government.
·Moissanite SA synthetic gemstone manufactured in North Carolina
·Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (Lesotho Highlands water project)
·Habitat for Humanity in South Africa
·The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse on their Operation Christmas Child program in South Africa and outreach Crusades in Johannesburg and Cape Town during1998
Meeting world leaders was also part of her life during involvement with PR for the new Democratic South Africa from 1990, during which time she had the unique opportunity to meet President Bill Clinton & Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton, Yasser Arafat, Colin Powell, President Jimmy Carter, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Muhamar Gadaffi and Fidel Castro.
2.5ESTABLISHMENT OF BSA PR & MARKETING IN CHARLOTTE, NC
In 2004 Dianne was approached by Harriet Sanford, then CEO of the Arts and Science Council to consult with her on a project entitled " South by South Africa : Crafting Cultural Understanding" which was successfully completed in June 2006 and which also became part of the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA. during July 2006.
South by South Africa (www.southbysouthafrica.org) was a multi faceted international collaborative between 10 Charlotte institutions and funded by the South African Department of Arts and Culture and the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation. Dianne was the Charlotte Project Manager and managed all aspects of the collaboration, both from a day-to-day management and communications perspective.
This project recently won two awards from the Best of the Best (BOB) Awards from Charlotte magazine for "Best Cultural Collaboration" and "Best Exhibit at the Light Factory" and enjoyed much success with all the following participating organizations:
Levine Museum of the New South, Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte Symphony, Moving Poets Theater of Dance, NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Opera Carolina, Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County, The Light Factory and Winthrop University Galleries and the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Out of these activities have grown other ad hoc marketing clients which include : American Home Mortgage, the Metrolina Real Estate Investors Association, Vinnovative Imports, The Clair Team at ReMAX Executive Realty, Community Building Initiative and entrepreneurial group 'The Chairwomen.'
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
High School: Graduated from the Pretoria Art, Music and Ballet High School (1977)
University Education: Graduated with a 4-year Bachelor of Mus (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) (1983). Subjects other than music majors and flute and piano performance, included English, History of Art, History of Music and German. Thesis for M.Mus degree was entitled "Chinese & Japanese music education on the Reef." Dianne is a member of the Wits Alumni Association.
LANGUAGES
Dianne is fluent English & Afrikaans, speaks conversational German and understands Dutch and Zulu.
COMPUTER SKILLS
Dianne is fully computer literate with skills in all MS Office products and graphic design programs like Photoshop, Corel 10 and is fully internet mobile. She designs and prints brochures, newsletters, postcards etc for marketing purposes for all her clients in Charlotte.
AWARDED APR BY PRISA
Qualified with the APR status with PRISA in 1994 - an internationally recognized accreditation in Public Relations, valid in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia and New Zealand .
BOARDS AND NETWORKS
APR Member of The Public Relations Institute of SA (PRISA)
Member of the Executive Women's Club of SA (EWC)
Member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
Business Network International : Charlotte Chapter
Carolina Professional Saleswomen and Entrepreneurs (CPSE)
British American Business Council of North Carolina (BABCNC)
Member of the Charlotte World Affairs Council
Founder of the South Africans In Charlotte club for South African Expats
www.southafricansincharlotte.org
Board Member of Charlotte Networking Professionals (CNP) www.charlottenetworkingprofessionals.com
Board Chair of the Epic Arts Repertory Theatre www.epicartsrep.org
State President for the Carolinas Chapter of the South African American Business Club
www.saabc.org
Member of The Vista Group www.thevistagroup.org
Member of Pro Active Partners : an exclusive business networking group for senior executives
Member and Contributor of the Levine Museum of the New South www.museumofthenewsouth.org
Contributor to the McColl Center for Visual Art www.mccollcenter.org
VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS
Dianne has volunteered and worked at fundraising for Opera Carolina, Charlotte Symphony, Habitat for Humanity Charlotte, Charlotte Country Day School, Carolina International School, Charlotte Children's Choir and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in teaching Art History and about South Africa.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Dianne has a formidable list of personal media contacts in radio, television and press, built up over the past 18 years in the South African and international media world. Since being in Charlotte she has built up a similar media contact network.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
Dianne has traveled extensively all over the world on behalf of clients including to the following countries ; The USA, the UK and Italy (for Consol Ltd), Singapore and the Maldives (for Logan's Tours), Egypt, Oman, Sinai and the United Arab Emirates with the media for various clients including M-Net Supersport TV.
During 1999 she visited Australia as a guest of the Australian Tourism Commission to visit the Australian Tourist Exchange (ATE) and the Pacific Asia Tourist Association(PATA) conventions on behalf of Seekers Travel World, including the Great Barrier Reef. In 2000 she visited Malaysia and Borneo for the Malaysian Tourism & Promotion Board and Malaysia Airlines.
Other countries visited include : France, Germany, Switzerland, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Turkey, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles, India, Angola, the Philippines and Austria .
Personal References :
Please advise if you would like to contact any of these individuals and their contact information will be provided
Mrs Martha Rea Calkins - President American Eastern Builders and member of distinguished NC Rea Family.
The Charlotte Women of Faith
Ms Harriet Sanford Previously CEO of the Arts and Science Council currently CEO National Education Association Foundation (NEA Foundation), Washington DC
Mr Robert Bush Senior VP : Arts and Science Council of Mecklenburg County, NC
Mrs Emily Zimmern Executive Director : Levine Museum of the New South
Mrs Dianne English Executive Director : Community Building Initiative (CBI)
Ms Octavia Seawell CEO of OZS Consulting and Management Consultant on Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) for CBI
Mr Wilton Connor & Mrs Catherine Connor Retired Philanthropists and leading Charlotte Business people and members of a number of Non-Profit Boards in Charlotte e.g. WDAV and Opera Carolina etc.
Ms Bridget-Anne Hampden Retired Wachovia Executive and recent Winner of the Maya Angelou Award for Women who Lead 2006
Mrs Milly Cox Charlotte Country Day School
Mr John Tabor previous Charlotte City Council Member
Mr Todd Croy & Ms Deanna Valeo Cunningham & Company Mortage Bankers
Ms Debbie Peterson CEO of Money Counts, Inc.
Mrs Ann Christie Allen Tate Realtors
