Women in Public Affairs launches new committee structure and rebrand for 2024
Outgoing WiPA Co-chairs, Melanie Fernandes and Anne Mirkovic, hand over the reins to Victoria McNish under a refreshed committee structure
5 December 2023
Women in Public Affairs (WiPA) is pleased to announce the transformation of its Executive Committee to focus on its campaigning and communications ability, whilst continuing to deliver its successful training and events activities. Outgoing Co-Chairs Melanie Fernandes and Anne Mirkovic have established new functions and responsibilities for its Executive Committee to ensure the network continues to go from strength to strength as it heads into its 12th year. The transformation also includes the launch of the WiPA Advisory Committee to support senior women in the industry, the introduction of commercial sponsorship packages for 2024 and a rebrand.
Following a committee election on 4 December, Victoria McNish has been appointed as the network’s new Chair for 2024. Victoria McNish will now lead WiPA’s Delivery Committee supported by a leadership team made up of Head of Campaigns, Louise Abraham, Head of Events, Emma Wade, Head of Marketing and Communications, Sophie Levin, and Head of Operations, Elizabeth Tomlin. WiPA has also appointed Priyanka Patel as its Diversity & Inclusion Officer to help WiPA make its events and campaigns more inclusive and to improve the diversity of the committee.
2023 was a record year for the Women in Public Affairs network. Under Melanie and Anne’s leadership, WiPA has grown to over 2000 members and increased its social media following to over 4000 people. The network has held over 20 successful events throughout the year, some of the largest networking events since its inception in 2012 and introduced new events to highlight the experiences of specific minority groups. In 2023 WiPA was also pleased to sponsor and support the introduction of the new ‘Woman of the Year’ category in the PRCA’s annual Public Affairs Awards. The network is currently undertaking its 5th annual survey of women in the industry, supported by Opinium, and focusing on pay transparency in the sector following feedback from members.
Outgoing WiPA Co-Chairs, Melanie Fernandes and Anne Mirkovic, said:
"At its core, WiPA is a wonderful community of women supporting one another. We’re so proud to have co-chaired this brilliant network for the past year and a half, and to have watched it grow over the years. We’ve listened to our members feedback and transformed the committee to further support women in and around Westminster. We’re grateful to the co-founders, Ella Fallows and Laura Lotinga, and to all our committee members for their hard work. We cannot wait to see what the network does next under Victoria McNish’s able leadership, and we will continue to champion WiPA at every stage as members of its Advisory Committee."
Incoming WiPA Chair, Victoria McNish, said:
"It is a great pleasure to be taking the helm at WiPA, and a huge thanks go to Anne and Mel for all they have done as Co-Chairs. Since starting out in public affairs, I’ve relied on the WiPA network, its events, and the support of the fantastic women I’ve been connected with, so I know how valuable and influential it can be. Work is already underway for 2024, and we’ll soon be announcing our first annual sponsors to enable to committee to bigger and better than ever. We’re all ambitious at WiPA to do more, bring more women into the fold, campaign harder, and with the support of our fantastic committee, I can’t wait to get started."
WiPA Co-Founders, Ella Fallows and Laura Lotinga, said:
"Over the past 11 years Women in PA has gone from strength to strength, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated committee members past and present. Mel and Anne have transformed the Network's leadership structure and helped to secure a fantastic team who are committed to delivering on WiPA's vision for a more inclusive and positive PA industry. We are so grateful to them for all the work they have done on this relaunch and everything else they have achieved over the past 18 months. We're delighted to welcome our new Chair, Victoria, and can't wait to work with her to continue building on WiPA's achievements for the industry."