Meropa Reshapes Leadership Team With New Executive Appointment And Board Member Retirements

Siphokazi Sigenu (left) has been appointed an executive director of Meropa and the head of the agency’s public affairs division. Right: Yolisa Pasipanodya, managing director of Meropa (Image supplied)

Two more changes to Meropa’s board include the retirement of Yogin Devan and healthcare specialist, Maria Djordjevic.

Devan retires from running Meropa’s Durban office while Djordjevic will continue consulting to the agency and its clients in a specialist capacity as head of healthcare.

Active leadership model

Meropa is defined by its leadership working actively in the business.

“It’s part of our DNA and commitment to clients to consult at owner level,” says Yolisa Pasipanodya, managing director of Meropa.

“Our board of six directors all work actively in the agency every day, invested in our own and our clients’ success.

“We find strength in our diversity with an ability to stress-test strategy, positioning and messaging across our representative team.”

Pasipanodya is excited for Sigenu’s fresh and forward-thinking to continue evolving the agency’s capacity and offering to remain ahead of the exciting communications revolution.

“Audience demands are shifting, brands behave differently, and reputation is judged by authentic purpose,” says Pasipanodya.

“Sigenu has an incredible journey to navigate.”

Sigenu joined Meropa in 2023.

Patrick Gearing, CEO of Meropa, says, “Consulting with purpose, she [Sigenu] drove change and impressed with her ambitious drive to make a difference – both within the agency and our clients,” says Patrick Gearing, CEO of Meropa.

“We’re delighted to welcome her to the board and look forward to her challenging our business.”

Contributing to change

Sigenu says she is honoured to be at the epicentre of Meropa’s continued success and look forward to shaping growth strategies for the agency and its clients.

“Most of all, I’m thrilled to mould young talent to embrace our changing landscape.”

She adds that South Africa’s public sector has so many great successes to share.

“Public interest initiatives hold massive potential for the country and need guidance to ensure implementation and ultimate success.

“We look forward to being part of many of those programmes and contributing to change.”

Meropa is a full-service, national PR and reputation management agency. It is a member of Worldcom, a partnership of independent agencies, providing clients with access to over 2,000 communications professionals in 105 cities in 39 countries.