Dr Zydèlia Venter is the head of Marketing and Communication at Akademia and obtained an honours degree (cum laude) and a master’s degree in communication management at the University of Pretoria (UP). She completed her doctoral thesis in strategic communication at the same university. She started her career as an assistant lecturer at UP and then embarked on research projects. For part of her career, she was employed at a reputation management company where her tasks included measuring corporate reputations, using a unique South African measurement tool, and crafting and implementing communication strategies and plans. She has been employed at Akademia since 2017 where she held various roles, amongst others as communication officer, communication manager and senior communication manager.