Proactive reputation building means executive buy-in and participation. In this webinar, you’ll learn from CEO Vuyiswa M’Cwabeni, CHRO Ernesto Marinelli and Head of Comms & PR Donald Kau how each of them thinks about and creates strategies around authentic leadership messaging, employee advocacy, stakeholder engagement and brand identity. You’ll also hear how heads of communications create trust with the C-Suite to manage and mitigate reputational risk.

The webinar is free of charge for members. To register at no cost, members must sign in to their member account before completing registration.
Non-members are welcome to join as well, with a registration fee of €15 (excluding VAT).


Speakers:

Donald KauDonald Kau, Head of Comms & PR, V&A Waterfront

With 30 years’ experience as a Public Relations practitioner, Donald Kau currently serves as Head of Communications and Public Relations for the V&A Waterfront, South Africa’s leading tourist destination. He has worked as both Media Communications and Stakeholder Relations Manager at various levels in the public and private sector. His primary role across many organisations has been to provide strategic counsel for media relations, crisis and reputation management at executive level as well as the development of communication strategy.

Donald has qualifications in Public Relations, Graphic Design, Project Management as well as MAP from the University of Pretoria and Gordon Institute of Business.

 

Ernesto Marinelli, Chief People and Culture Officer, Aareon

Ernesto Marinelli is Chief People and Culture Officer at Aareon, where he focuses on helping organizations become more effective by treating culture as the fabric of transformation. He spent 17 years at SAP, most recently as SVP and Head of People Success Services. Born in a small town outside Rome, Ernesto moved to Germany at the age of 21 and earned a PhD in German Linguistics. He is passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion and the future of work with AI.

 

 

Vuyiswa M’Cwabeni, CEO, Bloon

Vuyiswa M’Cwabeni is the CEO of Bloon GmbH, an AI-powered, no-code software development platform. She also runs her own consultancy, has co-founded a cosmetics line, and is an active investor, applying her diverse experience across multiple entrepreneurial ventures and businesses. Vuyiswa’s career began at Andersen Business Consulting and accelerated at SAP where she worked as Global Chief Product Strategist and later as SVP leading transformation initiatives in sales and customer success. She has degrees from the Richard Ivey School of Business and the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management, as well as a postgraduate certificate from Stanford.

 

 

Moderator:

Charlotte Otter, former VP of Executive Communications SAP, now author & advisor

Charlotte Otter is a storyteller who helps leaders build reputations that open doors and withstand challenges. With experience as a journalist, novelist, and VP in global tech, she coaches executives and founders to shape powerful narratives, turning outsider perspectives into leadership advantage through empathy, creativity, and strategy.