Dr Danker is an experienced Communications Counselor and Public Affairs Strategist, having begun her career in the media, and having more than 25 years experience as a Consultant, first with Burson-Marsteller in Kuala Lumpur, and also from having developed her own agency as a start-up 16 years ago. As Principal Consultant of Perception Management International, a preferred boutique consultancy in Malaysia, she has counseled multinational companies and successful Malaysian public-listed companies, as well as government agencies and educational institutions in terms of corporate reputation, organizational communications, stakeholder relations, perception audits and branding/positioning.

She facilitates workshops at an international level and coaches and mentors senior directors and CEOs in the art and science of stakeholder communication. Having recently completed her doctorate in Corporate Transparency Among PLCs in Malaysia, her interest is now largely in the area of Corporate Transparency, Board Ethics and Stakeholder Engagement, working with boards and senior management. Millicent’s approach to communications and PR suggests that transparency is the anti-thesis of spin; she argues that ‘transparency’ which is a key pillar of international corporate governance, is a word pregnant with communication ethics and responsibilities.

University Qualifications:

1. BA Hons. (English). University of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur. 1972
2. MA (Communications). University of Hawaii. USA. 1987 [under a joint PETRONAS East West Centre Post-Graduate Award]
3. DBA. Henley Business School/University of Reading. UK. 2010

Professional Qualifications/Memberships:

1. Advanced Management Programme, Henley Business School 2006
2. Chartered Institute of Public Relations. London. Member & Approved Trainer since 1996.
3. International Public Relations Association (IPRA). Member since 1996.
4. Institute of Public Relations Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur. Fellow.
5. Institute of Directors. London. Member since 2005

Work Experience:

1. Journalist/Sub-Editor/Feature Writer/Magazine Editor. New Straits Times Press. 1972-1982
2. Head of Communications. PETRONAS. 1982-1989
3. Corporate Affairs Counsellor. Burson-Marsteller. 1989-1992
4. Advisor, Public Affairs. Tanjung plc. 1992-1996
5. Founder & CEO. Perception Management International Group. 1996-Present

Career Highlights & Aspirations:

Outside of Malaysia and Singapore, Dr Danker has worked in Indonesia, Vietnam, Zambia, the United Kingdom, and several EU cities. Her career highlights have been in the areas of CSR policy and implementation, corporate philanthropy, community and government relations, issues and crises management and communications policy.

Her client portfolio includes more than 100 companies, not-for-profit organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies in Malaysia as well as internationally, and her industry experience has been in petroleum, gaming, palm oil, banking, insurance, consumer products, services and tourism. As one of Asia’s leading public relations practitioners, she is often called upon to facilitate strategic messaging and leadership communications, communications training and workshops at Director level. She has facilitated and led at least 300 workshops and group learning sessions as well as presented at dozens of international conferences in Malaysia, the ASEAN region as well as Europe on trends in the business of public relations/communications.

She has served for two terms on the Board of the London-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), having held the post of Malaysian chair for IPRA, and for a time was Vice President of the Public Relations Consultants Association of Malaysia. She is also a member of the UK’s Institute of Directors and an associate of Henley Business School / University of Reading. Additionally, Dr Danker is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) and the only Malaysian PR practitioner with approved-trainer status obtained from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, U.K. (CIPR), of which she is a member.

Mentoring is a key part of what she does. Her training company, Mentor Communication Resources, coaches young practitioners through customized and public programmes in various aspects of applied communications and PR. She also oversees an active internship programme at her consultancy which was the first local agency to institutionalize a scholarships/recruitment programme for mass communications students. To date, four scholars have graduated from local universities, completed their internship and continue their employment with the firm. She has guest-lectured regularly at a number of Malaysian universities and her advice is sought in academic curricula.

Dr Danker divides her time between Kuala Lumpur and London.