Longstanding Nelson communications consultant and former NZ Logger magazine editor, Jacquie Boer (nee Hanham/Walters) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Te Pūtahi Whakakakau Tūmatanui o Aotearoa (PRINZ).
“It’s fantastic to be recognised by my peers,” she says. “It helps provide South Island public relations professionals with a voice at the table when it comes to addressing wider industry issues as well as demonstrating that our local professionals are respected at a national level.”
Established in 1954, PRINZ is the industry body for public relations and communication management professionals in Aotearoa.
“We live and have to operate in a complex media environment,” says Ms Boer. “Having experience, training and an understanding of all the core elements of that environment is vital in providing effective communications advice.”
Her 30-year career in communications spans print, online journalism and television. Her extensive contribution to forestry culminated in her being named as a finalist for the Woman in Forestry Award at the recent Top of the South Forestry Awards 2024.
She boasts an MA in Shakespeare Studies from the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon (University of Birmingham) and a first-class honours degree in English from the University of Canterbury.
Her wide experience in corporate communications has covered both in-house and external roles, including being Global Media and Communications Manager for OSACO Group for the past several years. Other long-term clients include Nelson Forests (OneFortyOne), OSACO Group, Taylors Contracting, the Cawthron Institute and Port Nelson.
“Being elected to the PRINZ board comes at an important time for WPR, as we rebrand away from our previous Walters PR name,” she says, adding that the new WPR name reflects the current expansion of the business while acknowledging its history and Whakatū base.
WPR was established by Ms Boer in 2012, the same year that she won a national award from PRINZ for her post-earthquake communications work for the University of Canterbury.
