SEC Newgate Middle East

Founding Partner and CEO of SEC Newgate Middle East and Strategy Board Member at MEPRA

With a degree in Arabic at Ca’ Foscari University, Elena began her professional activities in communications and marketing management at Il Sole 24 ORE group in Milan, where she worked for 10 years.
After moving to Dubai with her family in 2010 she became Account Director for the Luxury and Consumer sector at MS&L (Leo Burnett Group).
In 2013, she met Twister’s partners and founded Twister Middle East. In 2021, SEC Newgate acquired a 70 per cent stake in Twister Middle East and the Dubai-based agency was renamed SEC Newgate Middle East.
Elena leads an international team of specialists, personally overseeing professional work for clients and making a rich wealth of competences and experience available to them. Recognised by PR Week’s Global Power Book as one of the most influential communications strategist in the Middle East from 2021.

Sabrina has more than 25 experience in communication, she moved from Italy to KSA 2 years ago to support the business in the Kingdom.
Her previous experience was in Edelman working on multinational clients in Edelman Italy and then KSA to support the growth of the office.
On behalf of her clients, most notably for Unilever , Samsung, Linkedin, Hp, PayPal, MOC, Islamic Arts Biennale, Oman Aviation Group, Turkish Airlines , Riyadh Air Abu Dhabi Airports, she develops educational, promotional, and corporate programs targeting the general and professional audiences. From consumer practices to corporate positioning, tourism and issue management, her experience spans the full spectrum of PR programming.
With a strong background in corporate, brand an d international communication.

Helen started her career in the UK working for a number of elite agencies, achieving outstanding results for clients ranging from Selfridges to River Island and Peacocks.

After 10 years of riding the London underground, she moved to Dubai in 2009 to join Havas.

She has led the fashion and luxury team at SEC Newgate for the past 4 years, managing prestigious fashion, fragrance and luxury jewellery clients across the region.

Daniela has been working in the communication industry since 2007. She holds a BA in Political Sciences and a Degree in PR and Corporate Communication.
Daniela built her PR skills working at Burson-Marsteller, first in Milan and then in Dubai.
Having worked in the UAE for over 12 years, Daniela has a deep knowledge of the local culture and media industry. She has led successful PR campaigns across several industries and has managed projects for several Italian Governmental Institutions in the UAE.

Emma has over 18 years of communications experience working with a number of high-profile clients in the Middle East and UK including government, corporate and consumer brands, aviation, tourism and retail.
With her many years of experience, Emma overseas the agency’s corporate accounts, providing strategy and guidance and works with the team to identify opportunities and ensure PR activity is managed effectively and successfully.
Prior to moving to Dubai, Emma worked for a boutique agency in the UK servicing consumer and charity sector clients.

A long-term resident of the Middle East, Katja has spent 15 years in the region, 7 of those executing high-profile comms campaigns for a variety of clients.
Prior to joining SEC Newgate, she worked at Weber Shandwick, Portland Communications and BLJ Worldwide, where she supported the delivery of the FIFA World Cup 2022™ and several iterations of the Qatar Economic Forum.
Katja holds a BSc in International Relations from Georgetown University and an MA in Human Rights from University College London.