In Celebration of D&I Month, PRSA Dallas Reflects on Our Journey
Posted by admin on Oct. 3, 2022 / Subscribe 0
Did you know that October is considered Global Diversity Awareness Month? Modeled by the National PRSA Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee’s initiatives, the PRSA Dallas chapter defines D&I as recruiting and welcoming professionals with a variety of racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and gender differences, as well as diverse thoughts, skill sets, mindsets and cultures. The chapter realizes that to make a true change in the organization, diversity and inclusion should be more than a program, but rather part of our chapter’s DNA and included throughout our strategic plan. With this mindset, our overarching goal has been bringing D&I best tactics to the attention of our members while simultaneously educating our chapter on the true meaning and various elements of D&I.
Founded in 1950, PRSA Dallas remains one of the nation’s largest and most active chapters of the Public Relations Society of America. The chapter has grown in membership to more than 500 dedicated professionals located in and around the Dallas area, where there is an abundance of Fortune 500 companies and professional practitioners. As our community, leadership and membership diversifies, so have our goals for our D&I initiatives.
Our 2021-2022 D&I goals were to bounce back from COVID by curating quality, educational and empowering virtual and in-person events and opportunities; increase membership interest and growth; generate engaging content on social media and in our newsletters; strengthen our voice and stance in the Dallas area community as a premiere thought leadership organization; and genuinely tie D&I into every single effort.
D&I is More Than a “Hot Topic”
D&I is much more than a “hot topic” or a box to be checked and then forgotten about. Our chapter has intentionally and successfully curated numerous in-person, virtual and hybrid events, and have created content that positively impacts and potentially expands our membership base, while also raising awareness about the importance of D&I. Attendees at our events entail various types of PR professionals with diverse backgrounds, including: students, freelancers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, corporate PR individuals, agency executives, and leaders within the nonprofit sector. The diversity in culture, race, ethnicity, age, religion, education, experience, thought leadership, geography background, etc., amongst our members, board of directors, event speakers, and event attendees has been what we have hoped to achieve.
Our 2022 D&I Journey
Building off our inaugural 40 Under 40 Awards event with a diverse pool of winners last summer, we started 2022 strong. Since January of 2022, our chapter has hosted numerous in-person, virtual and hybrid events, with some of them being sold out. Our events have intentionally offered a range of diverse topics and expert speakers to help us reach our chapter and national goals.
One of our proudest D&I moments this year was the establishment of our inaugural PRSA Dallas Community Leadership Award. This inaugural award was presented to Dione Sims, President and Founder of Unity Unlimited, and Ms. Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” during our 2022 Juneteenth event. This was our first-ever hybrid event and it sold out. We are excited to honor even more deserving people with awards at our 2022 40 Under 40 and Pegasus Awards event in November.
The Future of D&I
We accomplished nearly all of the things we set out to do this year, with more time to go, including: providing impressive programming; helping to increase new membership; attracting a diverse audience of attendees, members and leaders; building deeper relationships with individuals and organizations; honoring and awarding more individuals and organizations; and providing content that resonates with the times we are living in. This all worked out - and will continue to work out - because we are very intentional and passionate about what we do.
“Our future plans for D&I include passing the torch to a new VP of D&I for the 2022-2023 team,” says Tiara M. Tucker, the current VP of D&I. “This rotation has allowed us to bring in a new leader each year to fill this critical role and continue to raise the bar. The past leaders remain a key resource to ensure our values and path remain clear. We also plan to keep D&I front and center with all of our events, opportunities and content.”
Our plan is to continue to attract, grow and retain our membership base to include individuals and organizations who will help PRSA advance diversity locally, nationally, and even globally. To become a member of the PRSA Dallas D&I Committee, or to learn more, please contact us today!
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