Diversity Central

Diversity Central Committee: Left to right, Lester Davis, co-chair; Mike Millis; Lynne Scott Jackson;and Don Bates. Rear: David Henry. Absent: Lynn Appelbaum, co-chair.

A Call to Action

Diversity Central was developed in 2006 by PRSA-NY for use by everyone interested in diversifying the ranks of professional public relations. You don't have to be a Chapter member to take part. Included are results of recent studies, recommendations for action by practitioners and employers, career advice and counsel, and a selected list of resources that can be used to help multicultural practitioners find jobs and move up the ranks.

Our primary purpose in developing this program is to help improve job and career development opportunities for African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American and other practitioners of multicultural heritage. We also want to educate the profession on the need for and importance of diversity in our ranks.

Please keep in mind that this project is brand new and should be viewed as a work in progress, and the information included herein as necessarily incomplete.

Your Help Is Needed:

We encourage you to get involved in helping to diversity the PR profession:

• You can spread the word about this program and associated resources.
• You can refer students and young professionals to it for advice and counsel.
• You can suggest additional resources for inclusion in this site.
• You can encourage links to this site from other PR and professional communications sites.

Working together, we can help to build a truly diverse profession of which we can all be proud.

Job Seekers: Please keep in mind that PRSA-NY is not an employment agency even though we announce job openings via e-mail to our dues-paying members. So, please don't call us for jobs. Job listings can be found in many places throughout the profession, including in PR publications, local and national PR associations, on the Internet, through executive search firms and on the websites of PR agencies. See resource listings herein for the websites of some of these places.

Employers: PRSA-NY offers low-cost opportunities for you to promote your job openings to our members. Click here to contact Brian Rosnell in the PRSA-NY office for information and rates.

Students: Nationally, PRSA supports the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Visit the organization's Web site -- www.prssa.org -- to see what it has to offer students preparing for careers in professional public relations. It also has programs aimed at improving diversity in the PR industry and a list of colleges and universities with undergraduate and graduate degree programs in public relations.

Site Navigation: Click the following links if you would prefer to go directly to information on one of the topics listed.

• Diversity in Public Relations - A Call to Action
• Recruitment, Retention and Involvement - Appelbaum and Ford Survey Recommendations
• How-To Advice - Mentoring and More
• Selected Programs and Activities Aimed at Diversifying the PR Workplace
• Careers in Public Relations: An Overview

Diversity in Public Relations - A Call to Action

In 2005 PRSA-NY co-sponsored a press conference telecast nationally from the City University of New York, to announce the results of a survey of Black and Hispanic public relations (PR) practitioners in the U.S. Click here to read and/or download the complete report (digest of recommendations below).

Underwritten by RF Binder Public Relations and conducted by Lynn Appelbaum, APR, Associate Professor and Advertising/PR Program Director, Department of Media & Communications Arts at The City College of New York, and Rochelle Ford, Ph.D., APR, Associate Professor at Howard University, the survey shattered many assumptions about the PR industry's diversity.

The findings revealed significant dissatisfaction with the PR profession's commitment to diversity, perceived pervasive discrimination, and widespread concern that multicultural practitioners are relegated to a slow professional track.

The findings also indicated that, compared to their male counterparts, women-owned and managed firms have a significantly greater commitment to and success in retaining multicultural practitioners.

"While we have begun to talk about how to diversify our workforce, industry professionals and HR staffs must take action if we are going to effect meaningful change," said Prof. Appelbaum.

Dr. Ford said, "This study gives a snapshot of practitioner perceptions and experiences, and while the news is not all bad, organizations need to work to alleviate the double standards and racism practitioners feel they face in order to attract and retain talent."

Diversity Central Committee