Last week I had the privilege of attending PRSA-NY’s second annual DEI Summit on “Driving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Forward in PR Campaigns, Workplaces, and Beyond.” Programming included panel discussions, case studies from leading brands and advocacy organizations, and networking opportunities. With the observance of Juneteenth and LGBTQ+ Pride Month occurring in June, the Summit topic was timely and important.
The Summit opened with a Fireside Chat, moderated by Linda E. Dunbar with Mita Malick—host of “Brown Table Talk” podcast and Head of Inclusion, Equity, and Impact at Carta. Overall, the themes of their discussion focused on the importance of representation and leadership. Mita stated, “Company leaders need to lean in and be role models with DEI efforts and ask themselves: ‘What are you doing internally?’”
I found the CEO panel, “DEI in An Age of Employee Advocacy,” moderated by Aaron Kwittken, President of PRSA-NY, to be thoughtful and inspirational. The panel included Dale Bornstein (CEO, M Booth), Mike Doyle (CEO, Ketchum), and Paul Dyer (CEO, Lippe Taylor). The discussion touched on the importance of DEI in the industry, not just, as Doyle said, “to stay self-aware, but to evaluate and grow.” Bornstein reiterated that belief: “We need to move from good intentions to meaningful outcomes and hold ourselves accountable.”
Other important topics included how to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers, unlearning unconscious bias, challenging various stereotypes, recruiting diverse talent, and genuinely embracing new workplace culture.
“It is past time for industry leaders to take meaningful actions that move diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging from buzzwords into values that are embedded across the industry,” said Aaron Kwittken, president of PRSA-NY. “PRSA-NY is prioritizing pathways to create a more diverse industry and to raise the bar for how the public relations industry uses its power and reach to spotlight diverse and intersectional communities and issues.”
Of all the thought-provoking takeaways from the various panels and workshops, one that resonated with me as an Account Director at Violet PR was the discussion on how to use communications for social change. How can we, PR professionals, lead the way for social impact and encourage our clients to create social change using their platforms and voices? Utilizing best practices for growing DEI in public relations workplaces and external campaigns is something we’ve been working on as a boutique agency. Since the founding of Violet PR, our mission has been to help clients who are positively impacting the world. We’ve been growing DEI in public relations workplaces and external campaigns and are committed to evaluating and making real and meaningful changes on an ongoing basis.
