Ellie Martel has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate communications, specialising in corporate communications across crisis and change management, stakeholder relations and government relations.

Ellie has a wealth of top level experience as one of the few Kiwi PR practitioners with a strong background in the industrial sector, on the executive or leading external communications for some of New Zealand’s highest profile companies, including Fletcher Building, Refining NZ (now Channel Infrastructure) and KiwiRail. She is currently supporting Oji Fibre Solutions through significant transformation.

She has led or worked on M&A projects, annual reports, market updates, capital raises, annual meetings, investor road shows, iwi relations, government relations, resource consent projects, site closures, openings and launches, crisis and issues management and community relations.

Ellie is a former press secretary for the Attorney General, Minister for Building, Minister for Treaty Settlements, Minister of Commerce and Minister of Labour. As a TV and multi award-winning press journalist for many years, she was a political editor for Stuff (focusing on business including Budget analysis), wrote Wakeup Call for BusinessDesk and wrote for The Listener. She has also written for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Times in London with a focus on business and personal finance.

Ten years in Australia saw her inside public relations agencies and in the health sector for medical research institutes and a private hospital.