GWPR Australia has announced Maya Ivanovic, Associate Director - Client Services at Palin Communications, as the recipient of its inaugural 2025 GWPR Mentoring Scholarship.

Delivered in partnership with Beaumont People, the fully funded scholarship provides Maya with access to Beaumont People's 6-month LEAD Program, designed to improve leadership capabilities, executive presence, and career development. The program includes personalised mentoring, strengths-based coaching, interactive masterclasses, and strategic networking opportunities.

The pilot scholarship initiative was launched to address what the organisation described as a critical gap in professional development, supporting early to mid-career women in PR and corporate affairs, a cohort it says is often overlooked by existing coaching and mentoring programs.

GWPR Australia launched the local mentoring program with CPRA and Beaumont People as a pilot program in early 2025, with an aim to make mentoring accessible, practical, and tailored to real-world challenges faced by women in the communications industry.

Chair of the GWPR Australia Mentoring program, Carden Calder, said: "The response from the women who applied, and who took our offer of feedback up, was shocking. Every single participant we spoke to cited a lack of mentors in the profession, the difficulty of accessing quality mentorship, and the gaping absence of programs that go beyond role-specific skills development."

Reflecting on her selection, Maya said, "The LEAD program is an opportunity for me to step out of my everyday and invest in my development with intent. I'm looking forward to learning and mentorship that challenges my thinking, explores different leadership styles, and exposes me to important feedback to help me build executive-level confidence and clarity."

Papri Dev has stepped into the role of APAC Communications Head at Roblox. Based in Singapore, she spearheads strategic communications and brand building across APAC for the gaming and creation company.

Papri has accumulated more than two decades of communications experience, having held senior roles at Tinder, Burson-Marsteller (now Burson), and Zeno Group.

Independent communications, public affairs, and research group, Sandpiper, has announced the launch of Sandpiper Financial.

The new function aims to bolster Sandpiper's existing financial services and crisis offering, with a focus on financial communications and special situations advisory for its clients, across Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

To support the launch of Sandpiper Financial, the group has also announced a range of senior appointments to lead the division.

Kainoa Blaisdell has joined to lead Sandpiper Financial's Asia Pacific business. With 15 years' experience working in communications and consulting, he was previously Managing Director of the financial communications and special situations practice at FTI Consulting. Kainoa has also held senior leadership roles in investment research, financial journalism, and private wealth management across Europe and Asia Pacific, and brings expertise in investor relations, M&A, restructuring, alternative investments and shareholder activism.

Justin Teh has been appointed as Deputy Lead, Sandpiper Financial, Asia. He also joined from FTI Consulting, where he was a Senior Director. Justin specialises in financial communications, advising on complex, multi-stakeholder transactions across M&As, IPOs and take-privates. He also has experience in providing counsel on investor relations programs for listed companies on multiple exchanges across the Asia region.

Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Angus Booth, will be supporting clients with special situations and financial communications advisory work across these markets. He was most recently Senior Managing Director at Sodali & Co, leading its APAC and EMEA M&A, activism, and corporate governance and shareholder engagement business. With over 20 years of experience in corporate affairs and investor relations, Angus has previously held senior roles at listed and unlisted organisations, including Lendlease and Charter Hall.

Also joining the Sandpiper team as a Senior Advisor is Richard Barton, a 30-year financial communications veteran with experience advising on complex corporate, financial and crisis communications issues across Asia, the UK and Europe. He has acted for listed and private companies, financial and professional services firms, hedge funds and family offices, as well as private equity and venture capital funds and their portfolio companies. In addition, Richard has worked on IPOs; friendly, hostile and contested M&A; take-privates; activist battles; as well as defaults and debt restructurings.

Supporting the growth and function of Sandpiper Financial is Kim Spear, who is an existing member of Sandpiper's senior leadership team. She has over 20 years of market experience in Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, where she has worked on issues and complex situations including leadership transitions, corporate restructuring, and stakeholder engagement.

Sandpiper's Chief Executive Officer, Emma Smith, said: "We are delighted to bring together such talented individuals to join our growing Sandpiper team across our integrated network that spans 13 markets.

"Each of these individuals has a proven track record of working on some of the most significant transactions across Asia Pacific and globally, and we are delighted to add this key capability to our existing services and sector specialisms in financial services, healthcare, technology, property, and energy."