Diana Degan, IABC Fellow, ABC, CAAP, BAA
Founder, Diana Degan & Associates
Diana Degan is an award-winning communication leader, educator, and strategic advisor whose 35-year career has strengthened communication practice, elevated professional standards, and advanced human-centered communication across Canada and beyond. She has led work spanning the full spectrum of the profession, from strategic planning, brand development and integrated marketing communication to crisis communication, stakeholder engagement, internal communication, and accessibility-focused communication design.
As founder of Diana Degan & Associates, she built an award-winning integrated marketing communication agency, recognized five times as IABC/Toronto’s Independent/Small/Boutique Agency of the Year. Now celebrating 25 years, her firm has supported clients across sectors — from entrepreneurs and nonprofits to celebrities like Beyoncé and national and global organizations — delivering programs that earned 27 IABC and CPRS awards, including six Gold Quills, as well as two Dial North American Awards for Best Consumer Promotion. She has also been honored as a Guelph Woman of Distinction in the Business/Entrepreneur category.
Diana’s client-side leadership includes serving as country communication manager, where she established a national marketing communication department and led major communication initiatives across Canada. A dedicated educator, Diana has taught more than 2,000 students at Conestoga College, where she redesigned curriculum, embedded IABC ethics and the Global Standard, and earned the inaugural Faculty Innovation Award. Her trauma-informed, accessibility focused teaching reflects her commitment to equity, inclusion, and human-centered communication.
Diana has been an active IABC volunteer at the chapter, regional, and international levels for more than two decades. She has served as vice president of member communication and vice president of professional standards for IABC/Toronto, chaired the OVATION Awards, and presented at two IABC World Conferences. Since 2001, she has been a long standing evaluator for OVATION, Silver Leaf, Gold Quill, and U.S. regional awards.
A lifelong learner, Diana holds the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation, a post-secondary teaching certificate, the Ontario Extend Empowered Educator designation, the Certified Advertising Agency Practitioner (CAAP) designation, Carbon Literate Certification, AI literacy credentials, and more than 170 professional development achievements. She is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University, where she earned her bachelor of applied arts in journalism. Her career reflects a deep commitment to strengthening the communication profession and advancing communication as a force for connection, clarity, and equity.
Catherine Ducharme, IABC Fellow, PCC, CLC
Founder and Principal, Fluency Leadership
Catherine Ducharme is a career communicator, certified coach, and facilitator with more than 35 years of experience in communication and leadership. She has held senior roles across public relations, corporate, internal, and marketing communication in industries, including high-tech and health sciences, grounding her work in deep, real-world expertise.
Building on that foundation, Catherine now focuses on developing communication and marketing professionals to be exceptional leaders. Through her work at Fluency Leadership, she partners with leaders and teams to strengthen their influence, elevate their strategic contribution, and create workplaces where people feel seen, valued, and motivated to do their best work.
Catherine is a past-president of the International Association of Business Communicators' (IABC) regional board and the British Columbia chapter, and was recognized as IABC’s Regional Leader of the Year in 2021. She is also the author of the upcoming book SEEN: The Power of Appreciation at Work, which explores how appreciation strengthens connection, leadership, and workplace culture.
Cyrus Mavalwala, IABC Fellow, ABC, MC
Founder and CEO, Advantis Communications
Cyrus Mavalwala, IABC Fellow, ABC, MC, is a sought-after communication strategist who leads a team of trusted advisors that senior executives rely on to capture, own, and sustain mindshare with the people that matter most.
After senior roles at global PR agencies, Cyrus founded Advantis Communications in 2002. Advantis’ proprietary frameworks operationalize AI, elevate social media, and deploy video as core drivers of thought leadership and influence, strengthening visibility and relevance. These models have been cited in news media, industry, and academia, and for more than two years, Cyrus has trained teams across organizations on the responsible, practical use of AI.
Through Act Like an Agency™ (ALA), Cyrus leads faculty to elevate communication teams from tacticians to trusted advisors. An operating system for the modern communication function, Act Like an Agency enables in-house teams to operate with the confidence, discipline, and influence of strategic business partners. A co-creator of the Digital Strategy and Communication Management Certificate at the University of Toronto, Cyrus brings his proprietary thinking to boardrooms, classrooms, and stages across North America.
Cyrus brings deep governance experience through his service with IABC at the local, regional, and international levels. He has judged industry awards and received more than 30 honors for communication excellence across local, national, and international programs. His recognitions include IABC Fellow (2026), the global association's highest honor, and IABC Canada’s designation for lifetime achievement, Master Communicator (2018). He also holds the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation (2009). Connect with Cyrus on LinkedIn.
André Oberholzer, IABC Fellow, SCMP, FCSCE
Group Head for Corporate Affairs, Sappi Limited
André Oberholzer, SCMP, FCSCE, is group head for corporate affairs at Sappi Limited, a global pulp and paper company with operations across South Africa, North America, and Europe. With over 24 years of service, he has global responsibility for corporate and business communication including social impact, stakeholder, brand, and reputation management. He is a member of the Group Management Committee. He chairs the company Brand Council ensuring close alignment between corporate, service, and product branding. He also serves on the Sappi SA Social Impact committee and the Group Sustainability and Risk Councils.
He is an active participant in industry forums in South Africa and globally. He was the first person from Africa to be certified SCMP (Strategic Communication Management Professional). He is a past Chair of IABC Africa. He is a board member of the GCCC (Global Communication Certification Council). He has served as a member of the IABC Foundation Grant Selection Task Force. He is an Advisory Board member of INBREC and holds the designation of CSCE Fellow. He has judged PRISA PRISM awards; IABC Africa Silver Quill and IABC Global Gold Quill awards; as well as MACE Excellence Awards.
Prior to joining Sappi, he spent 14 years as a diplomat for South Africa.
Sia Papageorgiou, IABC Fellow, FRSA, FCSCE, SCMP
Founder, Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence
Sia Papageorgiou is one of the world’s most awarded communication strategists, with more than 60 accolades for excellence in strategic communication and leadership. Over three decades, she has worked across journalism, public relations, corporate communication, and strategic advisory roles in government, business, and the not-for-profit sector.
She is the co-founder of the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE), a global professional development and insights organization trusted by leading organizations worldwide. Through her work, Sia has helped strengthen professional standards, build strategic capability, and advance the recognition of communication as a trusted leadership function.
Sia is widely recognised for the depth and consistency of her contribution to the profession. Her experience spans senior executive practice, global professional leadership, and the development of frameworks, research, and learning systems that continue to influence how strategic communication is understood and applied in organizations around the world.
A long-standing member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Sia has served as a board director for IABC Asia-Pacific, past-president of the Victoria chapter, and chair of the Global Communication Certification Council, where she played a key role in advancing global certification aligned to ISO standards. In 2021, IABC Asia-Pacific named her Communicator of the Year. In 2022, she received the IABC Rae Hamlin Award in recognition of her service to the profession, particularly her work advancing the Global Standard of the Communication Profession. The GovComms Institute has described Sia as “one of the superstars of the communication profession.” Her work continues to focus on raising standards, strengthening the role of communication in organizations, and supporting professionals to operate with the credibility, discipline, and influence the profession demands.