Vanessa Cowan

VANESSA COWAN RESUME Personal Details Identity Number:- Nationality: South African Date of birth: 07/10/1972 Languages: English (first language), Afrikaans Mobile: --https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessacowan Key skills/expertise - Communication - a highly effective communicator; work well with diverse groups of people at all levels of the organisation - Writing – excellent written skills; ability to articulate thoughts clearly, draft articles/communication notes, clear reports and effective strategies - Research – journalistic skills: investigative, quick thinker, problem solver, able to work under extreme pressure - Interpretation – distilling and synthesising information, to present the bigger picture and only what is most relevant - Change management – specialist skills in culture change; transformational change. Passion for change, particularly big scale change. - Business Coaching – Certified coach, with specialist application to enabling change, through personal mastery - Broad industry knowledge – worked with clients from variety of industries, including insurance, financial services, telecommunications and IT, retail, manufacturing and operations and management consulting - Organisational / Planning – extremely efficient, smart worker; strong organisational and project planning skills; ability to meaningfully integrate information gathered - Problem Solving - experienced in identifying problems; able to come up with timely and appropriate solutions - Attention to detail – ability to present information articulately and accurately Summary Specialist skills • • • • • Business communications Writing/journalism Public relations Change management consulting Individual change/coaching Overview I have 23+ years of business experience, working in various disciplines (journalism, media and investor relations, change management consulting) and across many different industries, in a wide variety of programmes/projects. My work has always involved business communications (verbal, presentation and written) and I have developed specialist skills in this over the years. I have always been commended on my excellent writing skills, the ability to articulate thoughts clearly, draft clear reports and effective strategies. I love the challenge of creating order from disorder, through writing. I value the ability to work independently and remotely, as I am very self motivated and disciplined in my approach. Relevant Experience Change Management & Communications Specialist (15+ years) Significant experience as a change and communications consultant on transformational programmes, across a wide variety of clients and industries (Sanlam Group, Santam, Shoprite Group, Old Mutual, Foodbank, Vodacom, Transport for Cape Town, Learning Resources, Competitive Capabilities International etc.), and working with international management consultancies (IBM consulting, Gemini consulting, IQ Business Group, Tata Consulting). This role requires excellent communication skills, including: • Communications content that is unique and meaningful to specific audiences and readers. 1 VANESSA COWAN RESUME Qualifications • MBA, University of Cape Town (Graduated cum laude; Gold Medallist) • • • Honours in Industrial Psychology, Unisa BA, University of Cape Town • Change Management Practitioner certification (APMG International) • Academic transcripts available on request. • Certificates Business/financial reporting – Institute for the Advancement of Journalism Intensive Coach Training – Results Coaching Systems Various other writing skills and leadership courses Publications MBA dissertation – culture integration in the instance of a forced merger Organisational culture case study published in a book on Turnaround Management. References Available on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessacowan Further references available on request Communication & change strategy development and full orchestration thereof. Procedural/policy and process documentation. Report writing/case studies/position papers. Development of communication toolkits; newsletter and magazine articles (internal and external audiences), communication campaign collateral, training materials, video scripts, intranet and website content, reports and any other written content required. Stakeholder management/transition management/resistance management strategies. Tracking and managing uptake/user adoption; evaluating the effectiveness of strategy and communications. Leadership coaching and support. I most recently completed a transformational change project, at Sanlam Group. As lead change manager, I was responsible for managing and supporting the network of cross cluster change agents, in successfully managing the people, process and systems change amongst approximately 14 000 staff. Account Director, Beachhead Media & Investor Relations & Text 100 (5+ years) Full responsibility for managing a large and diverse portfolio of clients, providing them with strategic and pro-active corporate and financial communications services. Worked across diverse industries (banking, financial services, shipping, tourism, Information technology, healthcare, stateowned and non-governmental organisations). Strong focus on the ICT and financial sector (Siemens and Investec Asset Management). The role included: • • • • • Writing all media content and corporate material News/product press releases, people profiles and opinion articles Media strategies including crisis communication Orchestration of media/communications strategies and tracking reach/benefits thereof Presentations and pitches for new clients; market research and trends identification Assistant Editor, Club magazine, SA I gained valuable experience in the entire production and compilation of the magazine, seeing it come together from start to finish. Skills gained include writing on a broad spectrum of topics, editing, project management, creative conceptualisation and co-ordination. Articles included people profiles/interviews; entertainment news; food and gardening; health and more. Journalist – Local newspaper My experience as a news reporter was invaluable in equipping me with excellent media, communication, research and writing skills and the ability to cope under extreme pressure. I covered hard news, features, crime and sport. 2