Dianne Ennis Stewart is currently the PR & Marketing Director of Speed Reading International, Inc, based in Charlotte, NC and consults with other businesses through BSA Public Relations and Marketing – a division of SRI, Inc. She is president of BSA Public Relations and Marketing.
She relocated with her husband and family to Charlotte in July 2001 to establish an office for Speed Reading International, Inc (SRI) in the United States. Dr Bruce W Stewart is the President of SRI which has offices in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Prior to arriving in Charlotte, she was the Managing Director of Bruce Stewart & Associates cc doing business as BSA Public Relations & Event Management and the Marketing Director of Ulibambe Marketing and Corporate Communications cc, a strategic Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) alliance partner of BSA PR.
Dianne was actively involved in the professionalization of the practice of Public Relations in South Africa and served on various councils and boards at the Public Relations Institute of SA for over 10 years. She is the Immediate past Chairman of the Gauteng region of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa and is a registered Accredited Public Relations Practitioner (APR) with PRISA. Prior to her departure for the US , she was honored with a 10- year Long Service Award from the Institute.
Dianne has extensive experience in Public Relations campaigns, strategic planning and the planning of public relations programmes for major organisations in South Africa, both locally and internationally.
She has worked in all major areas of the communications industry - within the consultancy arena, at a leading South African advertising agency and for a stock exchange listed company in the Anglovaal Industries Group, before starting her own PR company some 18 years ago.
DIANNE ENNIS PUBLIC RELATIONS was founded by Dianne in 1988 and merged shortly afterwards with BRUCE STEWART EVENT MANAGEMENT to form BRUCE STEWART & ASSOCIATES cc, (BSA PR) a public relations, promotions & event management consultancy, ranked within
the Top 21 PR Consultancies in South Africa by Financial Mail's Ad Focus.
Past International Clients included :
·Daimler Chrysler SA : Mercedes-Benz, Honda & Colt consumer
marketing roadshow exhibits
·S A Mint Company : Numismatic coin launches and collectables fairs
·The Star Video Hi-Fi & Photo Fair : exhibition director of Africa’s largest consumer electronics expo
·Terrexko Limited : Annual Reports and Financial Reporting for company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
·Vilamoura Group of Portuguese Restaurants : Launch Opening of Vilamoura Pretoria & Vilamoura Camps Bay, Cape Town
·Newsclip, MTA Recruitment, Image Clinic, The Gary Player Group, IMG, Sports International, et al : consulting services in classical PR, media liaison, in-house newsletter, advertising, promotions.
·Rand Refinery Limited – largest Gold Refinery in the world
·Media Liaison for the Millennium 2000 celebrations in Southern Africa working closely with the SA Government.
·Moissanite SA – synthetic gemstone manufactured in North Carolina
·Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (Lesotho Highlands water project)
·Habitat for Humanity in South Africa
·The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse on their Operation Christmas Child program in South Africa and outreach Crusades in Johannesburg and Cape Town during1998
Meeting world leaders was also part of her life during involvement with PR for the new Democratic South Africa from 1990, during which time she had the unique opportunity to meet President Bill Clinton & Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton, Yasser Arafat, Colin Powell, President Jimmy Carter, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Muhamar Gadaffi and Fidel Castro.
ESTABLISHMENT OF BSA PR & MARKETING IN CHARLOTTE, NC
In 2004 Dianne was approached by Harriet Sanford, then CEO of the Arts and Science Council to consult with her on a project entitled “ South by South Africa : Crafting Cultural Understanding” which was successfully completed in June 2006 and then became part of the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA.
South by South Africa (www.southbysouthafrica.org)was a multi faceted international collaborative between 10 Charlotte institutions and funded by the South African Department of Arts and Culture and the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation. Dianne was the Charlotte Project Manager and managed all aspects of the collaboration, both from a day-to-day management and communications perspective.
This project recently won two awards from the Best of the Best (BOB) Awards from Charlotte magazine for “Best Cultural Collaboration” and “Best Exhibit at the Light Factory” and enjoyed much success with all the following participating organizations:
Levine Museum of the New South, Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte Symphony, Moving Poets Theater of Dance, NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Opera Carolina, Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County, The Light Factory and Winthrop University Galleries and the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Out of these activities other ad hoc marketing clients grew which include : American Home Mortgage, the Metrolina Real Estate Investors Association, Vinnovative Imports, The Clair Team at ReMAX Executive Realty, Community Building Initiative and entrepreneurial group ‘The Chairwomen.’
