Emma Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Emma has spent over 25 years in Asia counselling clients across the region, defending and building the reputations of some of the world’s largest and most complex brands and advising on complicated transactions and issues. An expert in crisis and issues management, change communications, C-Suite advisory and stakeholder engagement, she has led crisis, internal, external and brand-building campaigns for many global corporations. She was the former APAC CEO of Weber Shandwick, before founding her own firm, which she sold in 2013 and bought back in late 2019.
She is a board member of PRHK, a former board member of IABC HK and sat on IABC's International Advisory Committee. She is a regular judge of PR Awards and her work has won numerous awards. She is a guest lecturer to MBA and EMBA students on crisis and communications and is a non-executive board member of two Hong Kong-based charities.
Areas of expertise: advocacy, asset management, branding, crisis and issues management, financial services, fintech, healthcare, internal communications and change management, investor relations, professional services, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, technology.
Kelly Johnston
Global Chief Operating Officer
Kelly specialises in advising clients in complex and highly-regulated industries globally on strategic communications challenges and issues. She has more than 20 years’ experience in communications, public affairs, and ESG strategy across a range of corporate, financial, and consumer sectors in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.
Prior to Sandpiper, Kelly held senior roles with consultancies in Asia Pacific and Europe. She has also worked in-house managing corporate and public affairs for EmiratesAirline; energy company Ausgrid; and FMCG multinational Lion. She started her career as a journalist for New Zealand national broadcaster Radio New Zealand before beginning in communications at Bell Pottinger in London. She is the recipient of multiple industry awards for her client work globally. In 2020 she was named one of Campaign Asia’s Top 40 Under 40 for communicators in the region, and in 2023 was included in PRovoke Media’s Innovator 25 list.
Kelly is certified in investor relations through the Investor Relations Society (UK), and a qualified Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) auditor for sustainability reporting.
Areas of expertise: Corporate communications, crisis and issues management, energy and environment, ESG, financial services, government, internal communications and change management, public affairs, research & insights, trade associations, travel and tourism, and technology.
Philip Channon
Chief Financial Officer
A seasoned finance and operations professional, Phil has spent 30 years in Asia working with international communications networks overseeing operations across Asia, Europe and Africa.
Phil has extensive experience growing profitable communications consultancies and managing multi-market businesses to maximise operational efficiencies and build cost efficient structures. This includes 17 years as Regional Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa with the world’s largest public relations firm, Edelman, where he helped grow the region’s fee income more than 18-fold during his tenure with the firm, and as Chief Operating Officer, International for the world’s second largest independent marketing and communications agency WE Communications, overseeing operations for 12 offices across 8 markets.
He has managed more than 20 agency mergers and acquisitions during his career in markets as diverse as Australia, China, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Sarada Chellam
Managing Director,
Southeast Asia and Health
Sarada specialises in brand and health communications and provides strategic counsel for clients working across a range of industries from healthcare to travel and hospitality. She has more than 15 years’ experience as a PR practitioner and journalist and was previously Senior Vice President with global PR firm Ketchum in Singapore for almost 10 years. Her experience includes work with hotels, airlines, airports, and consumer brands. Sarada regularly conducts media and crisis training
programmes with clients across the region. She began her career as a broadcast journalist with Bloomberg TV in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Areas of expertise: aviation, healthcare, hospitality, professional associations, property/real estate, NGOs, sustainability, and travel and tourism.
Kim Spear
Managing Director,
Hong Kong and Financial
Kim has advised Asian and international clients on communications campaigns in the region for nearly 20 years across a range of complex situations including M&A, issues and crisis, leadership transitions, corporate restructuring and stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Kim worked in senior roles in Beijing, Singapore and Bangkok before moving to Hong Kong in 2014 where she spent seven years with a multinational public relations agency serving clients in the financial and professional services sectors – bringing their communications strategies to life and helping them navigate the complexities of the region.
Her experience includes advising AXA Insurance on the full acquisition of its Chinese partner, advising a HNW insurance broker through its management buyout and new brand rebuild, creating award winning thought leadership for AIG, managing the reputation of a large, private equity firm through several highly contentious portfolio company issues and C-suite narrative communications for Fortune 500 companies.
In the course of her career, Kim has media trained numerous executives in the region and provided public affairs counsel, rebranding strategies, stakeholder communications and outreach to clients such as: Alvarez & Marsal, AMP Capital, Bank of America, Baring Private Equity Asia, Champion Petfoods, McDonald’s and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Areas of expertise: private equity, insurance, banking, M&A, corporate communications strategy, C-suite advisory, narrative creation, government relations, issues and crisis management, training.
Francesca Boase
Managing Director, ANZ
and Professional Services
Fran has over 20 years’ experience in corporate affairs, issues management, integrated communications and stakeholder engagement. Her recent experience includes leading regional communications for a Big 4 consulting firm, managing sensitive issues across multiple jurisdictions and engaging effectively with a broad range of stakeholders.
She has deep expertise in professional and financial services, protecting reputations and building profiles of leaders and businesses in banking, insurance, superannuation, legal, accounting and consulting sectors.
Fran’s approach is considered, calm and collaborative, working with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to address complex and sensitive issues.
Craig Young
Managing Director,
Sandpiper Research & Insights
Craig has 30 years of experience as a research practitioner and evidenced-based strategy consultant. His key career specialisation has been in the conduct of high impact social research for public sector clients, and he is a passionate believer in the power of research to inform and transform public policy outcomes. He has significant experience providing evidence-based advice to senior executives in the media, tourism, and superannuation sectors, and conducting qualitative research, especially in challenging or difficult conditions, as well as in presenting to c-suite and board level stakeholders.
Craig has a strong governance background and serves on the boards of a number of social impact enterprises, including the Redfern Legal Centre (one of Australia’s oldest community legal centres and a prominent advocate for promoting the legal rights of First Nations Australians), Super Consumers Australia (which advocates for low and middle income Australians on superannuation issues). He is also on the Advisory Board to the ACT’s Gambling and Racing Commission, which promotes a public health approach to the Commission’s work. Craig is the immediate past President/Chair of the Australian Data and Insights Association (ADIA), the market research industry association in Australia and served on the ADIA Board between 2013 and 2022, with particular responsibility for government and regulatory affairs. As ADIA President Craig was responsible for initiating the Inquiry into Political Polling at the 2019 Australian Federal Election. .
Prior to joining Sandpiper as a consultant and advisor he was CEO of Big Village Australia, one of Australia’s top 10 commercial research companies.
Areas of expertise: public health, taxation, superannuation, social welfare, travel & tourism, indigenous policy and service delivery, social marketing research, qualitative research, stakeholder engagement, governance.
Michael Rinaman
Managing Director,
Strategy
Michael Rinaman is a Hong Kong-based strategy leader that consults clients on data-driven approaches to managing reputation, communicating organizational value, and business transformation. In his work, he develops integrated, outcome-focused planning, optimization and measurement approaches across earned, paid, owned and shared media. From developing new solutions in market for unique business challenges, to integrating regional perspective into global strategy, he blends best-in-class research methodologies with local expertise.
Michael also has deep experience consulting on analytics and strategy for clients across a variety of sectors, including technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer goods, sports marketing, travel & hospitality, government, and more. Michael has overseen planning, optimization and impact assessment for award winning campaigns and reputation work for AB InBev, ANA, BNY Mellon, Bose, Corning, GM, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Nike, Nissan, Novo Nordisk, Salesforce and Samsung, among others.
Michael has previously served as APAC Managing Director of FleishmanHillard’s research organization, TRUE Global Intelligence while also leading global analytics. Previously, he has also spent time providing global analytics and strategic counsel to clients for H+K Strategies (Burson) and Edelman Berland (Edelman DXI).
Areas of expertise: : crisis & issues management, consumer marketing, corporate communications, DE&I, employee communications, ESG, executive communications, government affairs, impact measurement, public affairs, reputation management, research & insights, stakeholder management, strategy planning .
Simon Buckby
Managing Director, Government and Public Affairs
After a career in the media, as a correspondent at the Financial Times and as an on-screen TV reporter for the BBC, Simon worked closely with Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister, co-ordinating major business leaders on the toxic issue of Britain's relations with the European Union.
This gave him a deep understanding of the complex interactions between the media, politics and business, which he put to use in 2005 by founding, then leading, and selling in 2017 a communications consultancy in London, which specialised in managing reputations and policy engagements for clients in the UK and across Europe. After the sale, he worked in Hong Kong for three years, advising global leaders on high stakes issues through the local protests, the advent of the national security law, and the first US trade war with China.
For the past three years he has been living in Dubai while working in Riyadh, advising government ministers and leaders of the Public Investment Fund on strategy, policy and communications as Saudi Arabia goes through a rapid period of modernisation.
Areas of expertise: media, crisis and issues communications, financial services, insurance, technology, internal communications and change management, investor relations, reputation management and public affairs.
Areas of expertise: government relations and advisory, public affairs.
Ed Brewster
Head of International Media
Ed most recently worked in-house at Huawei UK from 2011 until end 2020, where he held several roles including Director of Communications managing all media relations for the UK. Subsequently he was promoted to managing the corporate affairs for the UK business including government relations, public policy and media relations. In this role he also joined the senior management team. In 2019 he took on a new position leading one of the three international media hubs for Huawei Group globally and led the team responsible for the company's relationship with international media. He has visited China over 30 times including a two-month secondment to Shenzhen.
Prior to Huawei he was Group Head of Media Relations at Prudential plc for 3 years, where he led the team responsible for the company’s financial media and listed communications. Previously he was the first Head of Media for Three, the Hutchison Whampoa mobile business. He started his career at Brunswick in London before joining Hutchison, which was one of his clients.
Areas of expertise: media, crisis and issues communications, financial services, insurance, technology, internal communications and change management, investor relations, reputation management and public affairs.
Elizabeth Chu
General Manager,
Singapore
Elizabeth has more than 10 years’ experience in the communications industry in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China, advising clients primarily across the financial and professional services sectors. She specialises in corporate reputation management, content development, media and stakeholder engagement, as well as issues preparedness and management. Prior to joining Sandpiper, Elizabeth was leading professional and financial services portfolios at other firms, working with global and regional insurers, asset management firms, management consultancies, law firms, investment and private banks, media organisations, education providers, start-ups, and property developers.
Areas of expertise: content development, corporate communications, crisis and issues management, ESG, financial services and professional services, media training.
Bahjat Homsi
General Manager,
UAE
Bahjat is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in the communications and media industries in the MENA region, having worked with governments, ministries and corporate entities across UAE, Saudi, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Most recently he was Director, Reputation with Edelman in Dubai, and before that spent 8 years with APCO, Dubai.
Specialising in corporate reputation management and government communications, Bahjat has led complex, multi-stakeholder projects and initiatives including the Emirates Mars Mission and the UAE Papal Visit and worked closely with the UAE Government Communications Office in launching and managing national campaigns such as Projects of the Next 50, UAE Coolest Winter, 1 Billion Meals and the launch of the Museum of the Future. He also led award winning public awareness and advocacy campaigns for the United Nations Development Program in Kuwait and worked on the establishment of communications centres for the UAE and Saudi governments. Most recently, Bahjat was part of the seconded global team driving communications for COP28 UAE.
Before moving to the PR industry, Bahjat headed the highly respected Fortune Arabia magazine in Dubai serving as its Managing Editor.
Areas of expertise: corporate communications, crisis and issues management, public affairs. government relations, stakeholder management, media relations, and ESG communications.
Joyce Li
Deputy General Manager,
China
Joyce has worked in branding, international relations, communications, integrated marketing, and public relations in China and USA for the past 15 years, serving both in-house and in agency roles.
At Sandpiper North Head, she is leading the strategic communications team and healthcare practice. With her extensive policy knowledge and hands on experience in strategic consulting and day-to-day public relations operations, including crisis management, Joyce has been a trusted advisor to many big brands, including Intel, Tencent, Swire, Pfizer, Merk, and Roche from a variety of industries.
Joyce had worked in Washington D.C. for ten years as a communication professional and policy analyst, leading a variety of international projects in media outlets and international NGOs. She has a double Master Degree from the University of Oregon, majoring in International Studies and Mass Communications, and a B.A from Peking University in China.
Serena Cui
Deputy General Manager,
China
Serena has 15 years’ corporate communication and public affairs experience in China. She has spent most of her consultancy career with global agencies such as Weber Shandwick, Edelman, and APCO. Before moving back to China in 2009, Serena started her career in New York, working in the banking sector and shifted to the World Bank Group in Washington DC as a consultant.
Serena has a solid understanding of China’s media and political landscape, and the challenges faced by both multinational companies in China and Chinese companies expanding overseas. She has exceptional contacts with influencers, and in-depth knowledge of current regulations and market dynamics. She has acted as a trusted advisor serving multiple MNC and governmental clients on brand building, reputation management, issues and crisis management, and campaign execution.
Some of Serena’s clients include Amazon, Apple, OCIMF, Total, Ericsson, Accenture, SABIC, Vale, UAE Embassy to China, Philippines cabinet delegation, and many others.
Serena obtained her master’s degree in Public Administration with a major in Economic and Financial Policy Management from Columbia University. She is a native speaker of Mandarin and fluent in English.
Vincent Pung
Deputy Lead, Sandpiper Health
Vincent is a Deputy Lead of Sandpiper Health, where he specializes in supporting healthcare MNCs and providing counsel on corporate communications and policy work. He has demonstrated experience working across various healthcare sectors and has extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical, information technology healthcare and pathology industries.
Before joining Sandpiper, Vincent consulted leading IT healthcare companies across Asia and Australia, working with a range of clients such as Sengkang General Hospital, Parkway Hospital, Alfred Hospital, and South Australia Pathology.
His passion for healthcare and extensive experience in the sector has supported a range of activities at Sandpiper, including executive and internal communications, developing corporate engagement strategies and policy research. Vincent’s extensive expertise on China’s healthcare landscape has proved valuable to a range of clients such as AstraZeneca, Gilead Sciences, MSC, PhRMA, RDPAC and Roche.
Areas of expertise: life sciences, China healthcare policy, stakeholder and issue mapping, data analysis, executive communications, project and event management.
Camille Middleditch
Deputy General Manager,
New Zealand
Camille has over 14 years’ experience in corporate communications and ESG advisory in New Zealand and the UK, working with clients across a range of industries including Schroders, Burberry, Sage, Palo Alto Networks, Fullers360, Exsurgo, AUSTREX NZ, and Doppelmayr. She has also worked as an advisor in New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries, the New Zealand Racing Board and Engineering Firm, WSP.
Areas of expertise: Corporate communications, ESG, financial services, Technology, Primary industries.
Dr Craig Wilkie
Director
Craig has 20 years of experience in communications, strategy, and consulting. He has served as a senior speechwriter for several national leaders and consulted on strategic projects for national governments and brands such as Samsung, Heineken, BMW, and MINI.
As Partner at Consulum, he consulted extensively across the Middle East and Asia, working on high profile projects such as Saudia Arabia’s vision 2030 and Malaysia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN 2025.
As Strategy Director at Leo Burnett, he developed brand and communications strategies for global clients and was the agency lead for the public sector, working on investment promotion and delivering strategic communications programmes.
Craig has also worked for a strategy consultancy in Southeast Asia, advising clients on communications, strategy development, and policy formulation.
An accomplished writer and presenter, Craig wrote a national newspaper column in Malaysia for several years and also appears weekly as a broadcaster (football pundit) on a live radio show.
Areas of expertise: thought leadership, communications strategy, speech writing, executive communications & profiling, government relations & public affairs, media training, internal communications, crisis & issues management.
Emma Huang
Director
Emma Huang is a Director based in Sandpiper’s Beijing office. As a seasoned corporate communications professional, Emma specialises in corporate communications, financial communications, reputation management, media relations, crisis and issues management, and brand positioning.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Emma worked as the Director of Communications for NBA China where she was responsible for C-Suite communications, crisis management, marketing partnership communication, and the organisations’ CSR activities. She has also worked for a number of international PR agencies in both China and Canada where she provided strategic counsel on external and internal communications to clients from various industries such as financial services, professional services, healthcare, education, food and retail.
Areas of expertise: financial services, CSR, healthcare, education, arts, consumer, food safety, energy.
Liz Egginton
Director
Elizabeth is a Director at Sandpiper based in Perth, Western Australia. She has over 25 years’ experience enhancing and protecting corporate brands and connecting people to purpose through corporate storytelling, stakeholder engagement, reputation management and authentic leadership.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Elizabeth was a Senior Communication and Crisis Management advisor at IBM, responsible for leading teams to design and deliver high impact integrated Communications strategies, tightly aligned with business priorities, to build brand trust, strengthen reputation and drive revenue growth across Asia Pacific.
Previously, Elizabeth was a Press Secretary for the Australian Federal Minister for Trade, hosting international media and trade delegations to promote Australian business to the world, as well as spending a number of years as a news journalist covering business, sport and general news stories.
Areas of expertise:enterprise technology, crisis management, executive communications, corporate communications.
Winston Choo
Director
Winston is a Director based in Sandpiper’s office in Singapore. He has over 20 years experience in the communications industry, with expertise spanning corporate and financial communications, issues and reputation management, strategic media relations, investor relations and stakeholder communications.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Winston spent seven years at a multinational agency, where he developed and managed communications programs for clients including MNCs, listed and non-listed.
Winston has consulted for blue-chip corporate names across myriad sectors and industries. He has also handled communications and stakeholder outreach programs for public listings and M&As in Singapore.
Areas of expertise: Sustainability, asset management, wealth management, technology/telco/IT/fintech, professional services, real estate/property/REITs, healthcare, F&B.
Anu Noto-Menon
Associate Director – Digital Marketing
An experienced digital and content marketer, Anu works with Sandpiper’s clients across Asia Pacific to provide expert counsel in digital, social, and content strategies and campaigns as well as online reputation management.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Anu was Regional Digital Marketing Manager for global food company, Kerry Foods, for APMEA, leading integrated brand campaigns across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. She has also held senior B2B and B2C marketing roles for financial data and AI company, FinQuest; LinkedIn marketing company, Black Marketing; and digital media trading platform, Brandscreen. Through her previous work with DMG media as a content marketer she has extensive knowledge and connections across the marketing and advertising technology sector in Asia Pacific.
Her forte is helping organisations to execute strategic and scalable integrated digital marketing plans both at pan-regional and local levels to drive business objectives such as establishing digital transformation roadmaps and building a strong brand identity.
Areas of expertise: Digital marketing, content strategy, social media, online reputation, SEO, digital asset development, project management.
Hermen Chow
Associate Director
Hermen is a communications professional with a decade of experience in corporate profile-raising, media relations, thought leadership, and crisis and issues management. She is experienced in advising conglomerates, financial institutions, professional services firms, and developers in Hong Kong.
Her career began as a paralegal at Mayer Brown and Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited, providing a strong foundation in legal and corporate environments. She then transitioned into corporate communications, honing her skills at leading firms including Weber Shandwick, Brunswick Group, and SEC Newgate. Prior to joining Sandpiper Hong Kong, Hermen held the position of Associate Partner at SEC Newgate.
Hermen's academic background includes a Bachelor of Laws and a Master in Corporate Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), combining legal knowledge with strategic communication expertise. She also served on the Marketing & Communications Committee of The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong from 2022 to 2024. She is also a mentor at the School of Journalism and Communication of CUHK.
Areas of expertise: corporate profile-raising, media relations, thought leadership, and crisis and issue management.
Joan Ng
Associate Director
Joan Ng is an Associate Director based in Sandpiper’s Singapore office. She has 18 years of experience in the media industry, serving a number of editorial and leadership roles. She has worked with clients across and reported on a range of industries, and brings her experience and connections working with the region’s and the world’s largest companies into her consultation.
Joan joins Sandpiper after serving as a senior correspondent at BT covering financial markets, with a focus on private markets. She was previously BT’s news editor, responsible for daily newsroom operations. Prior to joining BT, she covered Singapore’s corporate scene and capital markets at The Edge Singapore..
Areas of expertise: Private equity, private credit, capital markets activity and corporate actions, financial analysis & research.
Louise Humphreys
Associate Director
Louise is a communications and public affairs specialist with more than 25 years extensive working with multi-national companies across a range of sectors –largely financial services, technology, healthcare, travel and government.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Louise has held senior in-house roles with large multi-national companies as well as other PR agencies and has devised and implemented successful thought leadership, internal and external communications programs for a broad range of companies..
Based in Sydney Australia, she previously lived in Asia for over 10 years where she headed the public affairs section of the Australian High Commission in Singapore and later managed the Asian in-house public relations activities of global investment firm Russell Investments. .
Since joining Sandpiper, Louise’s clients have ranged from small Australian start-ups to large international fintech and insurance organisations, each with their own communication challenges and unique briefs. .
Areas of expertise: banking and finance, technology, government relations, healthcare, insurance, internal communications, travel and tourism.
Rong Li
Associate Director
Rong Li has over 15 years experience developing and managing communications programs in China.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she spent over three years working for a Chinese B2B software company, where she was responsible for the company’s PR strategy development, content management, CEO branding and crisis management.
Before her time in-house, Rong spent over ten years’ working for a number of PR agencies including Ogilvy PR, where she provided strategic communications strategies for B2B clients. Some of these clients include NXP, Rio Tinto, UBS, Rockwell Automation, Stora Enso, CFA Institute, NYSE,CLSA, China Investment Corporation, Temasek, Nomura, HangLung Properties.
Before becoming a PR professional, Rong worked as a reporter for CCTV Economic Channel. During this time, she mainly covered macro economy and government policy related news.
Areas of expertise: technology, financial services, professional services.
Samantha Siu
Associate Director
Samantha is a corporate communications specialist with 13 years' experience working in-house and consultancy communications roles in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she spent seven years with MTR Corporation in Hong Kong, accumulating extensive knowledge about railway infrastructure and property development and engaging in the full spectrum of communications functions, from internal to external communications.
Since transitioning to a consultancy role with Sandpiper in 2020, she has led regional teams to support several key clients in APAC in the areas of media relations, executive communications, internal communications, change management and rebranding, and crisis and issues management. Her fluency in Chinese and English positions her well for regional work covering Greater China and the rest of APAC.
Areas of expertise: corporate communications, media relations, internal communications, change management and rebranding, crisis and issues management, financial services, insurance, professional services, technology, sustainability, transport, infrastructure
Vic Man
Associate Director
Vic brings more than a decade of experience in corporate communications, journalism and video production to Sandpiper’s Hong Kong office. He specialises in strategic media relations and crisis communications and has served various renowned international and local institutions in both consultancy and in-house roles. Vic worked closely with senior management in multiple aspects of corporate communications during his time at Hong Kong Hospital Authority and Link REIT, where he led and participated in managing confrontational and challenging situations such as COVID-19 outbreaks in wards and strikes.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Vic started his career as a TV journalist covering news in Hong Kong and the Greater China Region. With a strong interest in visual storytelling, he spent a year producing a range of documentaries, promotional and disease awareness videos while he was running a video production house.
Vic is also a non-executive board member of a registered charitable organisation with a mission to improve mental well-being in the community.
Areas of expertise: media relations, stakeholder engagement, crisis and issue management, video production, healthcare.
Unice Liu
Associate Director
Unice has led strategic communications programmes for clients across Asia Pacific for the last decade and has been a trusted advisor to multi-national corporates across food and beverage, travel and tourism, education, real estate, and manufacturing sectors. As an Associate Director for Sandpiper, she helps foreign businesses navigate and leverage domestic media and digital landscape, to best achieve their business objectives. Some of her previous clients include Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, Fonterra, New South Wales Government, Bank of China, Treasury Wine Estates and Coles Group.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Unice led the China office for Baldwin Boyle Group, an APAC strategic communications agency. She also sat on the Board of Australia Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai from 2020-2023. She holds an Honours Degree in Social Sciences, with a major in communications and new media, from the National University of Singapore, as well as a Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Areas of expertise: Strategic stakeholder engagement, crisis and issues management, brand building, new market entry, media relations, and digital engagement.
Charlotte Whale
Senior Consultant
Charlotte has over 20 years’ experience as a journalist and producer in international newsrooms including the BBC in London and Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar. She has covered many of the biggest news stories to hit the headlines over the last two decades including the Mumbai terror attacks, Greek economic crisis, the Arab Spring and the outbreak of the Syrian war.
Areas of expertise: Corporate communications, Media.
Daniel Dunkley
Senior Consultant
Daniel has more than 15 years’ experience as a business journalist in international newsrooms including The Sunday Times and Dow Jones in London, covering private equity, mergers and acquisitions, insurance, and FMCG. He has covered many of the biggest takeover, private equity and capital markets stories in Europe in industries ranging from media to telecommunications.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Daniel was a freelance journalist across the Asia Pacific region and a content editor specialising in thought leadership in the private equity and insurance sectors.
Areas of expertise: Private equity, M&A, insurance, media.
Annie Wang
Account Director
Annie has a wealth of international experience across the corporate sector and brings a deep understanding of global media and digital channels. She is trilingual in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Annie is responsible for content development, media relations, digital and social communications, strategic planning, and coordinating day-to-day activities for clients.
Prior to Sandpiper, Annie worked at The Hoffman Agency, and before that at Golin Hong Kong, where she advised on pan-regional briefs involving offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Clients included The Economist, FOX Networks Group Asia, Lenovo Data Centre, Ciena, and CES, to name a few.
Annie’s experience includes developing and managing communication campaigns for industry giants to build rapport with stakeholders, as well as leveraging social, paid, SEO, and SEM to establish a strong social presence for global clients in the region.
Areas of expertise: corporate communications, B2B communications, content development, media relations, technology, entertainment, consumer brands.
Beatrice Hua
Account Director
Beatrice is an Account Director based in Sandpiper’s Singapore office. She has eight years of experience in healthcare, brand and corporate communications.
She has advised major pharmaceutical companies, charities and health services groups on patient engagement campaigns, internal communications, corporate communications, social media marketing and influencer engagement.
Prior to Sandpiper, she held roles at consumer agencies in Singapore, where she launched award-winning influencer campaigns, ran always-on press offices and developed content strategies for clients to support their business objectives.
She also placed Silver at the Singapore Young Lions Competition 2022 organized by PRCA Asia Pacific.
Areas of expertise: consumer and corporate communications, healthcare, crisis and issues management, employee engagement, influencer engagement.
Bryan Shen
Account Director
Bryan is an Account Director at Sandpiper based in Hong Kong. His experience spans across public relations and content development. At Sandpiper, Bryan advises clients across the financial services and professional services sector
Prior to joining Sandpiper, he spent 3 years with Weber Shandwick Hong Kong’s Financial Services Practice, where he supported asset managers, insurers, and listed companies on media relations, research, and content development.
Bryan graduated with a Master’s degree in International Studies & Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London, and a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Warwick. He is trilingual in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Areas of expertise: content development, insurance, asset/wealth management, professional services.
Iris Ng
Account Director
Iris has a strong background in traditional and digital content strategies for clients across professional and financial services, hospitality and government sectors.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she was with Ogilvy Singapore where she focused on media engagement and reputation management which involved the use of traditional PR and digital tools such as Facebook advertising to achieve meaningful outcomes for her clients.
Areas of expertise: content development, corporate communications, digital media, financial services, media relations, professional services, reputation management, social media.
Ka Wai Li
Account Director
Ka Wai Li is based in Sandpiper’s Hong Kong office, bringing over a decade of experience of public relations to her role as Account Director. Having worked both in-house and agency roles, she has honed her skills in forming and executing media campaigns, investor outreach, issues management, event management and IPO communications.
Prior to Sandpiper, Ka Wai held roles in international agencies, where she managed public relations for numerous listed companies. She has previously worked with a vast range of clients, spanning the finance and consumer brands sectors, with past clients including Fidelity, China Life, Minsheng Bank, Yum China and Longfor Group. Ki Wai has guided critical IPOs in her market and specialises in the areas of investor relations and IPO communications. She further developed her industry expertise at in-house roles with two locally renowned companies, where she oversaw corporate communications.
Areas of expertise: consumer and property, energy and investor relations.
Petrina Loh
Account Director
Petrina has close to 10 years of experience in healthcare communications, in various disease areas such as vaccines, immunology, women’s health, urology and oncology, and other communication programmes spanning from external and internal communications, events, and corporate profiling
Petrina has also worked with cross-functional teams to drive various local, regional and global communications initiatives including media engagement, stakeholder management, internal communications and content development for media, digital and clients' internal platforms.
She has worked in the healthcare, corporate, lifestyle and luxury sectors, and graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Marketing Communications and holds a Bachelor of Business Management from Singapore Management University.
Areas of expertise: Healthcare, Corporate, Lifestyle and Luxury
Monica Xu
Account Director
Monica is an Account Director based in Sandpiper‘s Shanghai office. With over 10 years’ experience in brand communications and content marketing, working both in-house and in agency roles, she has extensive experience across a range of sectors including healthcare, food and agribusiness, manufacturing and education.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Monica held senior positions in global communications consultancies, where she provided communications counsel to multinational clients across APAC. In particular, she has a deep understanding of China’s complex healthcare industry – working with biopharmaceutical clients on corporate communications, brand narrative development, innovative disease education programs, executive profiling and crisis management. Some of her past clients included Johnson & Johnson, Gilead, Grundfos, and University of Sydney.
Monica started her career as a journalist and has a deep understanding of the media landscape, media trends and believes that effective storytelling needs to combine unique perspectives with creative formats.
Areas of expertise: healthcare, food and agriculture, manufacturing, education, corporate communications strategy, story telling and media relation
Vivian Low
Account Director
Based in Sandpiper's Hong Kong office, Vivian brings with her close to a decade of agency experience specialising in corporate reputation, issues management and earned-first communications campaigns. She has experience in providing strategic counsel across a range of client sectors covering local and regional remits, including for clients such as Samsung, Microsoft, Philips and Audi. She believes in communications being a key lever for business success, and is also well-versed in the use of creative, digital and research tools to better inform communications strategies.
Vivian started her career with FleishmanHillard working on B2B technology clients, and subsequently spent five years with Edelman specializing in corporate reputation and government affairs work for clients before a stint in Omnicom PR Group delving into integrated brand and consumer campaigns. Prior to joining Sandpiper, she was most recently an Account Director with Ogilvy, where she oversaw and led a broad spectrum of clients, including Gojek, Trust Bank, Toyota Motors Asia Pacific, Singapore Land and UD Trucks.
Areas of expertise: corporate communication, consumer brands, energy and environment, issues and crisis management, financial services, automotive and technology.
Fredrik Dittlau
Creative Director
A dynamic and highly creative Creative Director based in Singapore since 2012. Originally from Sweden and with extensive experience working with high-profile publishers and agencies in London and Dubai, Fred’s work has been recognised with 20 international design awards.
His creative approach to digital and print projects is to deliver groundbreaking, audience-focused design at the heart of everything. He began his career as a journalist and layout artist for a leading newspaper in Stockholm before relocating to London to work for the Financial Times. In 2001 he moved to Dubai where he was responsible for more than 15 monthly consumer magazines as well as a book division.
In 2012, Fredrik arrived in Singapore where he joined a content agency as creative lead, responsible for design, photography and video, working across 360 marketing campaigns, print, web, mobile, and social media.
His portfolio includes a broad range of clients, including Singapore Tourism Board, Qatar Foundation, Electrolux, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Audi, Citroen, Hong Kong Tourism Board, IKEA, Emirates Airlines, SingPost, SingTel and Economic Development Board of Singapore, among others.
Areas of expertise: conceptual design, content marketing, creative direction, infographics, website conceptualisation.
Alex Thomas
Senior Account Manager – Research and Insights
Alex is a Senior Account Manager based in Sandpiper's Hong Kong office. He is an experienced research manager and analyst, with deep expertise in social media and market intelligence. His experience spans market research, geopolitical risk, reputation management, and corporate investigations.
Before joining Sandpiper, Alex led deep-dive market entry research projects at a multinational financial data provider in Hong Kong, after a six-year consulting career in London. He has worked with clients from an array of industries including energy, financial services, technology, and communications across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.
Areas of expertise:social media campaign planning and monitoring, geopolitics, research and insights, public affairs, regulatory and legal risk, reputation management.
Apurva Bharade
Senior Account Manager
Apurva is a Senior Account Manager in the Financial Services team in Sandpiper’s office in Singapore. She has extensive experience in research analysis, campaign planning, execution and evaluation and is highly focused on ensuring that business plans and research translate to communications..
Before joining Sandpiper, Apurva was at Edelman Singapore where she led local and regional communications for financial services clients like AXA Investment Managers, World Gold Council, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Charles Schwab, and Société Générale. She headed planning, strategy and conceptualization of communications plans – effectively managing and communicating with all key stakeholders – various market teams, clients and business stakeholders, to deliver meaningful communications outcomes that are closely tied to business success. Apurva also has extensive experience in integrated communications for clients across a range of different industries like consumer tech, tourism and energy.
Apurva graduated from the Singapore Management University in 2019 with double majors in Corporate Communications and Marketing.
Areas of expertise: Financial services, corporate and professional services.
Cadence Hong
Senior Account Manager
Cadence is a Senior Account Manager based in Sandpiper’s office in Singapore. With over two years of experience in the communications industry at Sandpiper, she supports a range of clients in the technology, financial services, professional services, wealth management and corporate sectors.
Highly passionate about creating content and delivering compelling strategies, Cadence constantly seeks for new opportunities in high energy environments. She plays an active role in developing a variety of content that range from thought leadership pieces to communications plans. She is also responsible for media engagement and day-to-day account servicing.
Areas of expertise: content development, corporate communications, reputation management, media relations, technology.
Jingyi Lee
Senior Account Manager
Jingyi is a Senior Account Manager for Sandpiper in Singapore. Her experience spans across public relations and social media marketing. At Sandpiper, Jingyi supports clients across the technology and financial services sectors.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she was at Redhill Singapore, where she managed social media content for clients and worked with tech start-ups. She has also had experience working at Klareco Communications (formerly Bell Pottinger), where she developed creative campaigns for clients including the Health Promotion Board and Prudential.
She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) from the National University of Singapore, where she majored in Communications and New Media.
Areas of expertise: consumer and enterprise technology, professional services, sustainability & ESG, media strategy, financial communications.
Josette Yu
Senior Account Manager
Josette is a public affairs and corporate communication professional working for Sandpiper’s office in Beijing. She has a strong understanding of the political-economic environment and media landscape in China, providing clients with support on policy analysis, stakeholder mapping, perception audit, issue preparedness and crisis management, media relations, social media management and campaign execution.
Josette has supported clients in the energy, agriculture, food & beverage and luxury goods sectors and since joining Sandpiper, worked with a number of MNC and governmental clients on policy briefing, content development, issues and crisis management, and campaign execution.
Prior to Sandpiper, Josette spent 7 years working for Weber Shandwick. Some of her past clients include Total, the US Soybean Export Council, the US Dairy Export Council, Simplot, Mars, CropLife, Accenture, Omron, TECNO, Cartier, the World Innovation Summit for Education, Wellington College, Motorola, and HTC VIVE.
Josette holds a Master’s Degree in International Politics and Business from New York University.
Areas of expertise: public affairs, issue preparedness and crisis management, social media management and campaign execution.
Kaixuan Liu
Senior Account Manager
At Sandpiper, Kaixuan provides public affairs services to several world leading manufacturing and energy companies, as well as European business associations. His work includes tracking and analysis of China’s domestic policies and foreign relations, with a focus on environmental, energy, and circular economy issues. Kaixuan also works as a communication specialist in content development as well as strategy crafting and implementation.
Before joining Sandpiper Kaixuan worked at BCW Beijing providing strategic communications services, including content management, public opinion analysis, and crisis training to top tier technology and commodity trading companies.
Kaixuan has a PhD in contemporary history from Sciences Po (Paris) and is skilled in crafting effective evidence-based methodologies for research, analysis, and planning. He has published in academic and general public journals in English and French.
Areas of expertise: environment, circular economy, manufacturing, ICT, energy, agriculture, China-Europe relations.
Laveen Prakasan
Senior Account Manager
Laveen Prakasan is a Senior Account Manager based in Sandpiper’s office in Singapore. He has over 9 years of experience in developing, managing and executing communications programs for clients across the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Laveen spent three years at a multinational agency providing key support and counsel to clients based out of Singapore and across the region. He has provided high-value public relations, crisis communications, content development and media relations to companies like Zoom, Ripple, Cisco, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, Singapore Management University, ADDX, Cloudflare, Group-IB and NEC.
Laveen has also worked with various companies on rebranding projects, launches, awareness building and branding efforts.
Areas of expertise: consumer and enterprise technology, fintech, finance
Mark Wang
Senior Account Manager
Mark Wang possesses a deep expertise in digital media operations and content development. He currently provides services to clients spanning multiple sectors, including government, finance, energy, education, and manufacturing.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Mark was a chief editor at MSN, a subsidiary of Microsoft. As the senior media editor he was responsible for developing and executing MSN’s content communication strategy.
With extensive experience in crisis management and public relations issues management, Mark provides crisis monitoring and analysis, drafts press releases and provides other relevant PR writing services. He holds a master’s degree in international relations and a bachelor’s degree in Literature from the University of Sheffield.
Areas of expertise: content development, energy, aviation, international relations and politics.
Samuel Tan
Senior Account Manager
Samuel is a Senior Account Manager in Sandpiper’s Singapore office. Prior to joining Sandpiper, Samuel spent over two years at Spurwing Communications where he worked with clients in the agriculture and healthcare sectors. There, he was involved and led projects in areas relating to corporate profiling, media relations, stakeholder communications, and content development.
Samuel has worked on award winning campaigns and with clients that are both for-profit and non-profit alike. Clients he has worked extensively with include Bayer (Crop Science), Corteva Agriscience, DSM, Medtronic, The Power of Nutrition, and WWF (Food Practice).
Areas of expertise: agriculture, food and nutrition, ESG sustainability, stakeholder engagement, digital thought leadership, content and toolkit development.
Yuhan Wang
Senior Account Manager
Yuhan Wang is a Senior Account Manager based in Sandpiper’s office in Beijing. She has over 6 years experience working in PR and communications, across the automotive, cosmetics and entertainment marketing sectors.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she spent nearly five years serving auto industry clients, such as Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, Chevrolet, and Denza, where she gained experienced in communication strategy and copywriting. Yuhan also has experience working with 3C and beauty brands, helping with brand communications and media relations strategy.
Areas of expertise: automotive, cosmetics.
Alice Linton
Account Manager
Alice Linton is an Account Manager at Sandpiper’s Sydney office, where she plays a role in crafting and implementing communication programs for clients throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Before joining Sandpiper, Alice spent two years at SenateSHJ as a communications consultant. There, she collaborated with corporate clients to enhance media and stakeholder relations and develop content across various sectors, including technology, education, agriculture and economic development. Her career began in marketing with Sony New Zealand, where she developed expertise in brand strategy and consumer engagement.
Areas of expertise: media relations, content development, corporate communications and ESG
Amir Sadiq
Account Manager
Amir is an Account Manager supporting our Financial Services and Insurance practices in Singapore. Prior to joining Sandpiper he spent four years at an insurance trade magazine, leading the editorial team for the Middle East edition of the magazine while providing editorial support to the Asia Pacific edition. He has worked with companies within the (re)insurance industry across both regions to craft thought leadership articles for print and online.
Areas of expertise:Insurance, risk management, takaful, and thought leadership .
Cherie Hui
Account Manager
Cherie brings four years of experience working on corporate communications and investor relations accounts across the real estate and industrial sectors.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Cherie was at SEC Newgate Singapore, where she worked on capital market transactions and led investor relations accounts, supporting clients on strategy and message development, profile-raising, issues and crisis management, content development and curation, media monitoring, and media training.
She has experience in handling large-scale client events in virtual and hybrid formats, ranging from media relations to facilitating multi-market media engagement initiatives and coordinating logistics, including for a large investment company.
Cherie graduated from the Singapore Management University with a Bachelor of Business Management in Marketing and Corporate Communications.
Areas of expertise: content development. Corporate communications, financial services, investor relations, media strategy and relations, real estate, reputation management.
Gu Xue
Account Manager
GU works in Sandpiper’s Beijing office, providing research, content and media relations services for clients in a number of industries including FMCG, energy, tech and healthcare.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, GU worked as a client manager at KAPLAN. In this role, she was responsible for creating effective content and communications strategies and media relations.
GU holds a master’s degree in Educational Studies from the University of Glasgow.
Areas of expertise: Consumer and enterprise technology, professional services, ESG, media strategy, financial communications.
Jia Rong Chew
Account Manager
Having spent nearly two years working in the communications industry, Jia has demonstrated experience in the healthcare and consumer spaces and has supported a range of multinational clients in areas such as disease awareness, internal communications, social media marketing, digital thought leadership and influencer engagement.
Her past client work spans organisations such as Medtronic, Takeda, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi, Unilever and CooperVision. Jia holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Cum Laude) from Singapore Management University, where she majored in Communication Management and Sociology.
Areas of expertise: content development, social media marketing, digital thought leadership, integrated communications, multi-media production, healthcare communications.
Nicola Yim
Account Manager
Nicola Yim is an Account Manager based in Sandpiper’s office in Hong Kong, supporting clients in the legal, wealth management, fintech and insurance sectors. She began her career in public relations with another agency, Newgate, advising companies including Hillhouse Capital, Uber, Hongkong Land, and Temenos, on corporate and financial communications and critical public affairs issues.
Prior to entering the public relations industry, Nicola was a reporter and anchor at ViuTV English News. During her time there, she regularly reported on Hong Kong’s important events and breaking news, and hosted a weekly news recap show, during which she interviewed principal government officials, political figures, industry professionals and NGO leaders. Nicola holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Southampton.
Areas of expertise: financial services, public affairs, content development, reporting, translation.
Qianzhou Lou
Account Manager
Qianzhou Lou is an Account Manager in Sandpiper’s Beijing office. With over five years experience, his professional skills include government consulting, public policy, strategic communications, and project management. Past clients including Gilead Sciences, Novo Nordisk, PhRMA, Roche, and ThermoFisher.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Qianzhou worked in government consulting, internet and technology, healthcare and elderly care. He has provided high-value strategic communications, public relations and policy research support to clients, including Kuaishou, Yimutian, Taikang.
Qianzhou has a master’s degree in development studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Previously published research included topics such as, global social media network, the development of China’s media industry and China’s judicial reform.
Areas of expertise: healthcare, technology, media & telecom (TMT), e-commerce, and public policy, research and analysis
Xinling Wang
Account Manager
Xinling is an Account Manager based in Sandpiper’s office in Beijing. She has more than eight years’ experiences in policy research, analysis and communications, working in consultancy and chamber organisations..
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she spent four years at a chamber organisation supporting a number of companies on policy issues including industry policymaking, implementation and analysis.
Xinling also worked at a consulting firm monitoring and analysing China market movements and advising both public and private stakeholders accordingly. She also worked on projects that covered macroeconomic policy and elite politics. Xingling has been quoted by journalists and has been published in The Diplomat and the East Asian Forum.
Areas of expertise:Areas of expertise: consultancy, government and public affairs.
Yu Lin Goh
Account Manager
Yu Lin has over three years of experience in corporate communications for clients across a diverse range of industries from aviation, education to healthcare. She is experienced in both internal and external communications from strategy, execution and content development. Leveraging her strong media relations expertise, Yu Lin has secured top-tier trade and regional coverage in both print and broadcast for her clients.
Yu Lin has worked with clients such as Alibaba Group, ESSEC Business School, Great Eastern, L’Oréal SAPMENA and Pratt & Whitney and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York.
Areas of expertise: education, aviation, healthcare
Zhengnong Li
Account Manager
Zhengnong is an Account Manager in Sandpiper’s Beijing office. He has deep experience in healthcare policy-related projects in China and Asia. His strengths lie in policy research and analysis, stakeholder engagement particularly with industry multipliers and government authorities, logistics planning and events.
Zhengnong’s responsibilities include conducting research on the development of policymaking in the Chinese healthcare sector, producing intelligence reports on an extensive range of topics and managing various stakeholder engagement and policy projects.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, he worked as project manager for Development Solutions Europe, a consultancy specialised in the delivery of technical assistance to support EU external policies. He has managed several EU funded projects in capacity building, trade facilitation and international cooperation.
Zhengnong holds a Master’s Degree in European Studies from KU Leuven and a Bachelor’s Degree in Danish from Beijing Foreign Studies University. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, English and Danish.
Areas of expertise:healthcare, research and policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, issue mapping
Zoe Dela Plana
Account Manager
Zoe is an Account Manager with Sandpiper, based in the Sydney office. At Sandpiper, she works with clients across a range of workstreams, including professional services, insurance, financial services and technology.
Zoe supports clients on a regional level across Asia-Pacific, as well as servicing clients on the ground in Australia, driving media engagement and profile-raising at the national level. She supports senior counsel in narrative and strategy development, but also drives media relations and engagement, content development and account management.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, Zoe was a global market research consultant with CoreData, bringing data insights to the press and Australian audiences. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Media & Communications.
Areas of expertise:Content development, media relations, executive and corporate communications, internal communications.
Benjamin Cheng
Group Finance and Operations Director
Benjamin is an accounting and finance professional with over 11 years of experience in financial reporting, advisory, and leading operations in multinational corporations. He manages finance, legal, digital transformation, IT operations and office operations across multiple cities in APAC. Additionally, he handles supplier relationships, employee onboarding and regional compliance with operational policies..
Areas of expertise: digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, sustainability reporting..
Brooke Montaperto
Group HR & Talent Director
Brooke has 12 years’ experience in HR, marketing and talent sourcing roles in Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe. She is passionate about corporate culture, employee experience, and building effective teams. Prior to joining Sandpiper she led HR and operations for an environmental company and design agency as well as the marketing, agency and creative practice for a leading recruitment firm in Hong Kong.
Prior to this Brooke worked in the media and music industries for close to a decade, including at Warner Music and EMI, in PR, publicity, marketing and artist relations in Asia Pacific and London.
Areas of expertise: Talent Acquisition & People.