Karena has almost 25 years of experience in communications and marketing, spanning various business sectors and disciplines, within both agency and corporate environments.
She joined Edelman as Advisory Practice Lead, where she oversaw a diverse client base, focusing on strategic reputation management programmes to enhance organisations' stakeholder engagement effectiveness, executive visibility, employee experience, financial communications, and risk & crisis resilience.
In 2021, she was promoted to Managing Director of Edelman South Africa, and in May 2022, she assumed the role of CEO of Edelman Africa. She was made co-lead of EMEA Financial Services in January 2024.
Before her time at Edelman, Karena led the External Communications team at Absa Corporate and Investment Bank, where she also served on the Group Communications Management Committee.
Since 2006, she held leadership positions in Corporate and Consumer teams at Magna Carta and Ogilvy PR, serving as a Business Unit Head and member of the Executive Committee.
Throughout her career, Karena has had the privilege of working with numerous diverse organisations to help them achieve their business and communication objectives, resulting in award-winning campaigns both locally and abroad.
Karena holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.