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Is the PR Industry Ready to Go the Extra Mile?
In a recent column in PR Week , Pat Ford, worldwide vice chair and chief client officer at Burson-Marsteller, made a simple, direct appeal to the industry: “We all need to be diversity champions.”
Ford, who was named Diversity Champion – PR Agency as part of the 2016 Diversity Distinction in PR Awards last year, laid out five key points:
- Set ambitious goals and measure progress on a regular basis.
- Focus on developing top diverse talent at every level.
- Address unconscious bias.
- Listen! Spend time on meaningful dialogue with our diverse talent.
- Emphasize action.
I’d like to focus on the second point that has been long debated with limited progress. Ford couldn’t have said it better, “Commit to ongoing mentoring and leadership development, especially for those who move into PR from other fields – as we strive to seed our senior ranks with diverse backgrounds. This means we must turn to leaders from other backgrounds because of the dearth of diversity in our senior ranks. We need to make special efforts to recruit such talent and then go the extra mile in helping with their transition.”
I put the emphasis on Ford’s last sentence. It sums up the issue. The key words are “special efforts” and “go the extra mile”. We are at a point where it no longer can be business as usual. Last year’s Holmes Report noted that “only 45% of agency heads and 44% of corporate executives believe their ranks are as diverse as their clients’ customers or stakeholders.” The biggest challenge, the report points out, is the “lack of access to diverse talent at senior and entry levels.”
What I’m hoping is that Ford’s column will serve as a rally cry for an industry desperately struggling to improve its diversity. It’s no coincidence that the PR Council announced that its seventh annual Diversity of Distinction in PR Awards will take place 6 p.m., Sept. 14. Rene Wilson, the council’s president, said it’s adding two new categories: One focusing “on campaign work facilitated by a diverse and inclusive team;” the second new category will recognize young PR professionals. These are laudable steps to expand its accolades to industry executives. What’s more important is how the PR Council can celebrate these industry diversity champions and take Ford’s words to heart.
We know at NBPRS that we have been promoting the urgent need for diversity since 1998. We know that the PR industry along with NBPRS can partner to create more aggressive programs to recruit, retain and develop diverse talent. So, as Ford says, it’s time we go the extra mile.
All Aboard: I’m Committed to Leadership
Thank you for the opportunity and honor to serve as your president. I’m most humbled, and excited to build off the legacy of so many wonderful public relations professionals who have laid the groundwork. Now, we’ve got to do the work to live up to the promise of transforming, energizing and diversifying this industry.
Are you with me? I sure hope so. Over the past few months, I’ve talked to so many colleagues – some who have been longtime members of NBPRS; others who are no longer involved. There’s a combination of excitement and skepticism. Let me say this: I’m looking forward with fresh eyes. I’m making a Commitment to Leadership.
This ‘commitment’ is very much tied to the great work done last October at our #PowerPR State of the Industry Summit in Washington, D.C. During a busy, intense and productive day, a group of corporations, associations, organizations, government agencies, universities, and entrepreneurs discussed, debated and strategized to develop what we’re calling the Four Commitments:
Commitment 1. Jobs & Small Business Advocacy
Commitment 2. Training & Education
Commitment 3. Alliances & Partnerships
Commitment 4. Thought Leadership
I’ll allow you to read the outline of this action plan, which becomes the framework for an aggressive strategy that will engage all members of this organization, the industry, our professional and university partners. I can’t do this alone. I can’t do this without you all standing shoulder-to-shoulder, setting aside past animosities or doubts, to invest in the future. We need each other more than ever.
You might be saying, “Who the heck are you, Neil Foote?” Well, let me take a minute to let you know that I’m an ‘Ol’ School Journalist’ who has become a ‘New School Storyteller.” I’ve been a newspaper reporter (The Miami Herald, Washington Post); an industry diversity expert (American Society of Newspaper Editors); an ad sales manager (The Dallas Morning News); a digital media pioneer helping to develop Internet strategies in the mid 1990s and in the early 2000s (The Dallas Morning News/Belo Corporation); entrepreneur/intrapreneur, helping Tom Joyner conceive and launch BlackAmericaWeb.com; a PR executive with Joyner’s Reach Media and later launching my own firm, Foote Communications LLC, which I still run while also teaching journalism at the University of North Texas’ Mayborn School of Journalism. I’ve been a member of NABJ, serving as chapter president in Miami and Washington, D.C. and later on the national board. I’ve worked with editors, publishers and media company executives during my years on the board of the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives.
So, what’s all that mean? It means I’m committed to leadership. I’m committed to:
- Improving communication in all forms to members, chapters and the industry
- Extending and strengthening the NBPRS brand
- Developing quality programming
- Increasing revenues through memberships, sponsorships and grant support
- Assisting entrepreneurs get access to contracts
- Developing strategic partnerships with industry leaders
Here’s what I’m asking you to commit to:
- Growing and building this organization through involvement with our local chapters and with our national organization
- Supporting this organization – and each other
- Engaging with NBPRS: Follow, post, share. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn
- Take advantage of the NBPRS Job Bank. Post jobs, post your resume and search for jobs. Share listings with friends looking for opportunities.
Neil Foote
President and Chairman of the Board
National Black Public Relations Society, Inc.
