Leadership Team

Meet our leadership team;

• Richard Lazar, CEO
• Peter Lazar, Chairman
• Grant Imhoff, Director Finance
• Sally Haysom, GM Sydney & Executive Chairman PPR NZ
• Diana Forrester, GM Canberra & Director Consulting Excellence 
• Lee McLean, GM Brisbane
• Peter Harris, MD Perth
• Dena Vassallo, GM Adelaide

Richard Lazar

Managing Director Richard has over 28 years experience with PPR and has developed the Sydney based business into one of the largest consultancy chains in the region, with offices around Australia, in New Zealand, in Hong Kong and recently in Shanghai and Beijing.  Richard Lazar’s public relations skills have been recognised by the Public Relations Institute of Australia, which has made him a Fellow of the industry and presented him with several national “Golden Target Awards” and “State Awards for Excellence”, including the coveted “Program of the Year Award”.  Richard's creative approach together with his experience in corporate culture change, issue and crisis management and in the introduction of planning and strategic PR tools, new systems to consultancy administration and career development at PPR, have established him as a leader of the profession. Richard is a co-author of the best-selling  textbook, "The Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual" now in an updated 5th edition.

Peter Lazar

Chairman and Founder of PPR Peter is a very experienced strategist, consultant, facilitator and presenter. He is a highly regarded communicator, chairman and negotiator. A Life Fellow and Past State President of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, he was chair of its College of Fellows for 12 years.  Peter’s expertise in issue management and communication strategy at the highest level have made him a leader in the profession.  He was awarded an AM in the 2007 Australia Day Honours List for services to communication, health education, aged care and for other community service. For his pro bono work in dental health education he was made a Fellow of the International College of Dentists - one of only two non-dentists to be so honoured. He is co-author of “The Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual” (Tymson & Lazar) which is widely used in the teaching of Communication students in University and TAFE courses in the region.

Grant Imhoff

Director Finance Grant is a CPA qualified accountant with over 10 years experience in the Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations industries. In his role as Finance Director of PPR Grant has implemented financial processes and procedures that ensures PPR meets its corporate governance requirements as prescribed by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.

Sally Haysom

General Manager Sydney & Executive Chairman PPR NZ With 19 years in consultancy and corporate environments as well as running her own PR business, Sally's wealth of experience has benefited a wide range of clients.  This has been enhanced by Sally's previous experience as a journalist.  Her strategic planning skills have been applied to a diverse range of clients including government agencies, public health organisations, corporates, as well as businesses in a cross-section of industries.  Sally has been with Professional Public Relations for 10 years and was Managing Director of Professional Public Relations in New Zealand before relocating to Australia.  She continues to hold the position of Executive Chairman of PPR NZ.

Diana Forrester

General Manager Canberra & Director Consulting Excellence   Diana has  delivered strategic counsel and program implementation to clients in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors for more than 20 years. She operated her own consultancy for a decade before joining PPR 11 years ago. Responsible for building the commonwealth government practice for the firm since 1999, Diana has worked in the agriculture, environment, family and community services, finance, fisheries, geoscience, health, ICT, small business and tax portfolios, and she has secured and managed program implementation for several international clients, primarily in the education sector. As the winner of national Awards for Communication Excellence from both PRIA and AIM, Diana oversees the consulting processes and systems that deliver quality assurance for PPR clients, and she is responsible for the PPR Academy which provides learning programs in communication best practice across the company. Diana has a background in research, is a professional writer, facilitator and presenter as well as a qualified educator.  In 2003 Diana was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for services to the Australian community in Business Leadership.

Lee McLean

General Manager Brisbane Lee has over 25 years communication and public relations experience and has conducted numerous campaigns involving media and community relations; literature production, consultation, issues and crisis management, direct mail, online communications and event management. She has conducted issues management planning and implementation for a range of high profile organisations whilst working at PPR. Lee has implemented communications campaigns for a range of corporations including Queensland Transport, the Brisbane North Division of General Practice and Healthy Waterways.  At PPR she is directly involved in campaigns for Queensland Health, Collins Foods Group, One Harvest, TAFE and Cash Converters. She has worked with the Queensland Government as an IT&T policy and media advisor, and speech writer.

Peter Harris

Managing Director PPR WA Peter is a strategic communications practitioner with more than 22 years experience in media, government and corporate affairs. He is an award-winning newspaper journalist, served as a Media Adviser in the Court Coalition Government from 1995 to 1998, before joining PPR in March 1998. He was promoted to Manager, Public Relations in 2001, appointed General Manager of PPR WA in 2002 and Managing Director of PPR WA in 2005, with responsibility for more than 40 staff. Peter provides strategic corporate affairs advice covering all facets of media and investor relations, issues and crisis management and government and community relations.

Dena Vassallo

General Manager Adelaide SA From strategic client counsel to creative execution, Dena Vassallo brings over a decade of multi-national experience and unique perspective to PPR. Formerly, as vice president in Edelman’s Chicago USA office, Dena developed and executed campaigns for Unilever. During this time, numerous campaigns led by Dena were greatly influenced with digital strategies, and were recipients of the highest marketing/PR awards in America. Dena’s experience in public relations/marketing includes brand building campaigns, guerilla/buzz marketing; branded entertainment, social/digital media, user-generated content, issues management, celebrity and influencer seeding; strategic media relations; product promotions and partnerships; and execution of a wide range of special events. Dena also worked with Hunter Public Relations in New York, USA where she led campaigns for globally recognised companies such as Kraft, Starbucks and Gallo Wines. She began her career at Edelman New York USA, and worked on key accounts such as Absolut Vodka, Pepsi and Crisis Management for September 11, 2001.