Arnold Chanel
| Arnold Chanel | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arnold Chanel 8 June 1989 Suva, Fiji |
| 🏫 Education | University of the South Pacific |
| 💼 Occupation | Media Personality - CEO - Investor - Psychologist - Journalist |
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Arnold Chanel (born June 8, 1989) is a Fijian media personality, businessman & investor, communications magnate and political expert. He is the Founder of Vatis Communications and Bluesteel Construction.
Early Life and Career
Chanel was born on June 8, 1989, at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, Fiji. He obtained primary school education at Marist Brothers Primary School and Nehru Memorial Primary School. He obtained a high school education at Mahatma Gandhi High School. He finished his high school education at Jai Narayan College (previously known as Indian College). He was raised in a strict Catholic household.
University and Journalism
Chanel attended the University of the South Pacific where he graduated with a double major in psychology and journalism and was a journalist at Fiji Television, Mai Life Magazine, FijiLive and Future Challenges. While at University, he won several awards in the journalism field including documentary of the year and Best Environment Reporting Award. He gained a lot of attention after becoming one of the first Fijian journalists to highlight the shift in China's geopolitical focus to Fiji and the Pacific in the article titled: "Fiji and the Rising Dragon." He later went on to host a popular political talk show on the Fijian television station Mai TV called the Chanel Show produced by Stanley Simpson.
Humanitarian Response
Chanel left journalism and entered the communications world after joining the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in 2016. He was part of the OCHA team to lead the disaster response during Tropical Cyclone Winston under Sune Gudnitz. TC Winston was the most intense cyclone recorded to make landfall and the world witnessed first-hand the devastation that climate change-related disasters cause to small island nations like Fiji. This springboarded the then Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama's Presidency for COP 23.
Political and Business Career
Chanel has been a prominent figure in South Pacific politics, particularly in Fiji, where he was a political consultant for the winning FijiFirst Party in the 2014 Fijian General Elections and 2018 Fijian General Elections, the latter of which he was the logistics and campaign coordinator. He did not undertake a political consultancy role in the 2022 Fijian General Elections.
After 2018, he left his political consultancy role to focus on private-sector enterprises, which included founding the global public relations firm Vatis Communications, where he is the chief executive officer and Bluesteel Construction where he is the Chairman of the Board. Vatis Communications grew quickly to become the largest public relations firm in the South Pacific region.
Work With Cancer Survivors
Arnold Chanel lost his grandmother, Philomena Chanel, to cancer in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been a long-time advocate for cancer awareness, heavily involved with work to help cancer victims and survivors. He has worked closely with WOWS KIDS, a Fijian charity organisation that works with children who develop cancer, providing his expertise and services pro bono. In 2022, he was elected to the Fiji Cancer Society's Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting by a landslide vote.
References
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