Meet the 2002-2003 IABC executive board

Communication World, June-July, 2002

CHAIRMAN

Annette Martell, ABC, MC, has worked with financial services, corporate, not-for-profit and agency-based organizations during her 16 years in the communication field. Through her communication counsel with Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Toronto, Ontario, Martell has a front-row seat on the emerging human resource and communication issues facing medium to large national and international organizations.

Before joining Mercer, Martell was part of Acadia University's senior management team as leader of its alumni relations and public affairs functions.

Martell holds a bachelor of public relations degree from Mount Saint Vincent University of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a bachelor of arts from Acadia University of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She earned the ABC designation in 1992. Six years later, Martell received IABC's Master Communicator distinction, IABC Canada's most prestigious honor.

An active IABC volunteer leader, Martell has served several times on IABC's international board, and as director of IABC's Canada District 2, president of IABC/Atlantic Canada and blue-ribbon panel judge with IABC's Gold Quill awards program. She was also a contributing author to the third edition of "Inside Organizational Communication."

VICE CHAIRMAN

Stephanie Griffiths is the senior partner in Material Assistance Communication, Research and Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, an organizational development and applied communication practice specializing in communication and behavioral diagnostics, communication and leader capacity development, planning, negotiation and conflict resolution.

Before founding Material Assistance 12 years ago, Griffiths worked in journalism, communication and organizational development with a national newspaper, editing and managing various consumer, industrial and financial journals, and within the then Barlow Rand Group, a South African--head-quartered mining and industrial multinational company.

Griffiths is a director-at-large on the IABC executive board and the IABC Research Foundation Board for the 2000-2002 term. She has also served on the IABC Research Foundation Research Committee and on the IABC Sub-Saharan Africa board since 1994. She is a past chapter president.

Her tertiary studies have been in behavioral science, languages and organizational communication, and she is currently completing an MBA program.

PAST CHAIRMAN

John Clemons, ABC, APR, is vice president of internal communication at Nextel Communications, Inc., headquartered in Reston, Va. He was formerly director of internal communication for Ameritech, Chicago, a Fortune 100 global communication services provider acquired by SBC Communications Inc.

Clemons has spoken at IABC international conferences, served on IABC's multiculturalism committee and been a member of the 1996 international conference planning committee. He also has served on the IABC executive board for more than seven years and in 1997-98 was appointed a trustee for the IABC Research Foundation. Accredited by both IABC and PRSA, Clemons has received numerous communication awards. In 1997, IABC/Washington (D.C.) named him Communicator of the Year. Clemons was vice president of communication of IABC /Tampa and executive vice president of IABC/Atlanta. He has a bachelor's degree in news journalism from Syracuse University in New York.

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Mark Drewell, Johannesburg, South Africa, is head of corporate communication at Barloworid Ltd. and serves on the company's executive committee. He is responsible for global development of the Barloworld brand, internal communication and every aspect of the company's reputation.

With his global responsibilities in Barloworld, he travels extensively. Educated at Oxford University, Drewell is keenly interested in conservation issues, is a trustee of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, and is a member of the executive committee (and principal sponsor) of the environmental network, a body that facilitates dialogue, between business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media and government on environmental issues through a networking lunch program.

He has served as chapter president of IABC in Gauteng, South Africa.

Shelley Griewahn is a consultant in Arlington, Va. She previously worked with two major international consultancies and a Fortune 100 organization.

Griewahn helps companies elevate the performance of their communication programs through strategic planning and careful implementation of best-practice processes. Her work in human resources and organizational communication for more than 20 years has won numerous awards. She has spoken at local and international conferences on subjects ranging from niche marketing to strategic communication development. Griewahn is editor of IABC's manual, "Best Practices in Communication Planning and Implementation."

Active in IABC since 1981, Griewahn has been a member of two chapters. She is an IABC Research Foundation trustee, a past director of U.S. District 3 and a past president of IABC/Washington.