Blackie McDonald

Tony Blackie

Tony is the Chairman of Blackie McDonald Pty Ltd. Tony has a background in journalism, starting his career as a cadet on The Age newspaper, Melbourne, in 1972. He has held positions in the Sun-Herald, Observer in London, contributed to Time and Newsweek international editions and is the author of the Australian Consumers Handbook.

Until establishing Blackie McDonald, Tony has held several positions including Head of Media in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Director of Information with the Public Service Board in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and was a Group Director with a leading Sydney PR agency.

Most recently Tony spent a two year sabbatical at BRW magazine (2006-2008) where he held the positions of Editor of Business Lifecycle and Emerging Companies Editor.

Mark Lenyszyn

Mark has been helping shape popular opinion with some of the world's largest organisations for more than a decade.

He has held senior regional and communications roles with Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, HP and Lexmark, as well as global top 10 PR agencies including Burson-Marsteller and GCI Group.

Mark provides senior counsel and account management services for a range of clients at Blackie McDonald. He has an extensive background in the consumer and enterprise information technology markets.

Georgia Sweetapple

Georgia Sweetapple holds the position of Senior Account Director with PR agency, Blackie McDonald. In this role Georgia is responsible for leading a number of clients - providing strategic communication advice and counsel - particularly in the area of media relations.

Georgia's career spans eleven years and several industries including enterprise technology, telecommunications, consumer electronics, professional services and FMCG. Georgia has managed many successful PR campaigns for a number of high profile companies, some of which include: SANYO, Brother, Creative Labs, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Panasonic, Adobe, Trend Micro, Fairfax Digital (f2) and Fuji Xerox Phaser Printing.

Georgia has a Bachelor of Arts - Public Relations Major and Marketing Minor, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

Roslyn Richardson

Roslyn is an experienced communications professional specialising in consumer and B2B communications. Roslyn is responsible for client and media relations, planning and implementing communications campaigns, media strategies, speaking opportunities, event management and managing the day to day public relations program.

Before joining Blackie McDonald in November 2007, Roslyn worked for Corporate Communications, Canon Australia and was responsible for Consumer PR, Corporate and Internal Communications.

Roslyn has a Bachelor of Media Studies degree from Macquarie University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Public Relations from the University Technology Sydney.

Derek Evans

Derek started his information technology career as an IBM mainframe sales executive in the UK and has held senior sales, marketing and general management positions in Singapore, the United States, India, South Africa and Pakistan, as well as New Zealand and Australia. He left the IT industry as marketing director of Honeywell Asia Pacific.

Derek ran his own Sydney public relations agency for ten years before selling it to Blackie McDonald and thereby joining this company in 2004.

He was a member of thirteen sales achievement Clubs at IBM and Honeywell and is a Fellow of The Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Gillian Evans

Gillian brings an international perspective to her public relations profession having spent much of her 15 year career working abroad in London, Jakarta and Mumbai. She has just completed a 2 year stint managing internal communications in-house for a client, primarily around an outsourcing program.

Gillian has also worked with JP Morgan, American Express, ITN and TV-AM, and NSW Lotteries. She began her media career as a cadet reporter before transferring into the press office environment. She has been an on-screen presenter, most notably on the Frost on Sunday Program with David Frost, and she holds a Journalism Diploma.

Louise Cargo

Louise is an experienced communications professional that specialises in consumer and B2B communications. As an Account Manager, Louise works closely with her clients to identify key issues and PR opportunities as well as planning and implementing communications campaigns.

Prior to joining Blackie McDonald in July 2007, Louise worked at Ulster Bank, Dublin as a media relations officer. She was an integral part of the Ulster Bank Group press office and was the first point of contact for press and media queries.

Louise holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Ulster, and a Masters in Public Relations from Dublin Institute of Technology.

Nuria Grifoll

As an Account Manager at Blackie McDonald, Nuria contributes to the planning, development and implementation of media strategies, media relations, event management, and internal communication activities. She has significant experience in enterprise technology, consumer electronics and security markets in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Nuria started at Blackie McDonald in November 2007 and has also been assuming in-house roles at several key clients.

Prior to moving to Sydney, she has completed her Bachelor studies in Journalism and Organisational Communication at the College of Applied Science Zurich (Switzerland) and in November 2008, she concluded her Master of Arts in Public Communication from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Rachel Love

Rachel is an Account Manager at Blackie McDonald and has been with the company since 2006. In this role, Rachel is required to manage the day-to-day public relations programs for a range of client accounts.

Her responsibilities include working closely with the client, key members of the media and other members on her account team. Rachel is required to identify key issues and PR opportunities related to client business and coordinate launch events.

Rachel has progressed rapidly during her time at Blackie McDonald to become a key member of the consulting team. She has significant experience spanning the technology, consumer electronics, motoring and related industries in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Communications degree, majoring in Public Relations, from The University of Western Sydney.

Jemima Dunlop

Jemima joined Blackie McDonald in early 2008 and quickly worked her way into the role of Senior Consultant within the internal communications team. Currently, she is working in the aviation field within the Corporate Centre areas where she uses her specialist capabilities to assist in the development and roll out of high level communication plans. Her many responsibilities include the production of large scale town hall meetings and the development of various internal communication materials, activities and segment newsletters. The rest of the week Jemima is based in the office and provides support on our pro bono client projects while also managing a number of different office projects.

Prior to Blackie McDonald, Jemima supported the Sales and Marketing department at an Investor Services company in Sydney, in addition to a stint with a global Hedge Fund advisory company in London as Executive Assistant to the company director. Jemima holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications, Media Production from Charles Sturt University.

Anna Spencer

Anna Joined Blackie McDonald in early 2008. As a Senior Account Executive, she supports the account teams to contribute to the success of those teams in managing the corporate and marketing communication requirements of her primary clients.

Anna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland as well as a Masters of Business, majoring in Public Relations, from the Queensland University of Technology. Upon completing her university studies, she traveled throughout Europe and Asia before gaining employment in the communications department of a major transport company in London for a year and moving to Sydney in December 2007 to join the team at Blackie McDonald.

Samantha King

Samantha joined Blackie McDonald in early-2008 and has experience in both corporate and consumer public relations.

Her role involves working closely with the Account Teams on the day-to-day management of client communication requirements and media relationships.

Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, majoring in Public Communication, from the University of Technology Sydney.

Ann Casey

An Accountant for over 25 years, Ann joined Blackie McDonald in 2005. She brought a wealth of experience from a number of Service Industries including Television, Marketing, Advertising, Hospitality, Events Management and Public Relations.

Her training as a Lifeline Counselor has been of great assistance when often she has had to step into the role as Office Manager specifically HR issues as well as completing her Accounting duties.

Ann is a Professional Member of the National Institute of Accountants and is a Justice of the Peace.