Shirley Tony Kum
Shirley Tony Kum, Corporate Communications Manager of Vivo Energy Ghana, has been crowned the PR Discovery of the Year 2016 at the prestigious National Public Relations and Communications Excellence Awards.
The PR Discovery Category seeks to recognize PR professionals, who have demonstrated ability, capacity and showed tremendous professional development, as well as having been recognised and respected by their peers.
Commenting on the award, Shirley expressed her appreciation to the Institute for its continuous desire to reward excellence and in ultimately crowning her as the winner in that category.
“I am most grateful to the management and staff of Vivo Energy Ghana, as well as my family, for their continuous support and contributions towards my growth in the profession and the industry in general. It’s indeed a humbling experience to be counted worthy of this prestigious award by the IPR,” she said.
Prior to her current role at Vivo Energy Ghana, Shirley was part of a team that pioneered the establishment of the corporate communications function of Newmont Golden Ridge Limited and later rose through the ranks to a higher position within the Communication Department where she received numerous awards, including the Spot Employee Recognition Award from the President of Newmont Mining Corporation in Denver.
At Vivo Energy Ghana, Shirley essentially built the Ghanaian leg of the Communications function, putting the basics of a solid communications plan in place to position the company and its brand as one of the leaders in the oil marketing industry.
Such people-centered initiatives led to the winning of the most coveted industry, company and professional awards, including the Most Recent CSR project of the year at the UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards; Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (Downstream Petroleum) at the Ghana Oil and Gas Awards (2014, 2015, 2017); Corporate Social Responsibility Company of the Year 2016 at COPEC and the Best Community Relations Programme of the Year 2016 at the IPR Awards in Accra.
Shirley holds a Masters in Communications, Media and Public Relations from the University of Leicester in the UK, among others.
She is an alumna of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a member of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana.