Having been with Sappi for more than 21 years, André leads the corporate and business communications function at Sappi Limited, headquartered in Johannesburg. Sappi is a US$5 billion global pulp and paper company with operations across South Africa, North America and Europe. As Group Head for Corporate Affairs André is responsible for internal, external, corporate and business communication and reputation management programmes, including, Sappi’s social impact, stakeholder and brand communication globally. Prior to joining Sappi he worked for 14 years as a diplomat for South Africa, focused on multilateral affairs.He is a past chair for the Africa chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators). His industry service also includes being a member of the judging panels for the PRISA Prism Awards and the Africa and global IABC Quill Awards.André is a proud University of Pretoria alumni, from which he holds a BComm Law, majoring in Economics, Accountancy and Law.André became the first communications professional in Africa to achieve the Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP) Certification awarded to him by the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC), an initiative of the International Association of Business Communications (IABC).