New Chair of PRINZ College of Fellows elected
We are pleased to announce that Julien Leys has been elected as Chair of PRINZ College of Fellows.
Thank you to both Gordon Chesterman and Julien Leys for stepping forward as candidates and offering their support.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Fiona Cassidy for her relentless contribution as past Chair of PRINZ College of Fellows.
About Julien Leys
Julien has over 23 years’ communications experience working in both the private and public sectors.
Following completion of a First-Class Master’s Degree in Law, Julien was appointed as the legal and political adviser to the Minister of Local Government in New Zealand’s first MMP Parliament.
After senior positions with leading communications agencies, Julien established an award-winning consultancy PR Partners which he ran for 10 years. In 2014 PR Partners was merged with Trans-Tasman consultancy SenateSHJ where Julien was the General Manager and a senior Partner until March 2019.
Julien is a specialist in crisis and issues management, media relations, and government relations. He has extensive experience in assisting major clients with complex issues as well as successfully managing crises across the pharmaceutical, transport, public utility, labour hire, technology and food / hospitality sectors.
He also has extensive experience working with the building and construction sector and was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Building Industry Federation in 2019. Julien is also the Executive Director of the Construction Strategy Group.
In 2019 Julien also established Pendulum Strategies as a boutique communications consultancy with a discrete client list including a major energy company, the Government of a Pacific Island nation, and a major transport business.
About College of Fellows
PRINZ Fellows are members of significant standing, who are elected to become Fellows by the Fellows Executive and approved by the PRINZ Board for induction into the College.
The College of Fellows, via its Executive and elected Fellows Chair are involved in mentoring APR candidates, undertake Award judging, and may be called on to consider an Ethics complaint.
A Life membership, the highest accolade from PRINZ, may be awarded to a Fellow in recognition of their significant service over a long period.
