Diversity and Inclusion

PRSA Richmond is committed to ensuring the chapter is a welcoming body and relevant resource for all PR practitioners.

View the chapter’s 2021 Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan (PDF).

The PRSA Richmond Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce supports and identifies the diversity and inclusion needs of PRSA Richmond.

Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce members will contribute to the chapter’s diversity and inclusion mission in the following ways:

Serve as an ambassador for diversity within the chapter
Support the chapter in the execution of an annual event in recognition of PRSA Diversity Month
Share feedback and ideas for advancing the diversity and inclusion mission throughout all levels of the chapter
Recommend diversity and inclusion strategies to foster a more inclusive culture
Inform the chapter’s leadership regarding its diversity and inclusion outreach and engagement efforts to include annual surveys, professional development opportunities and networking events
Seek collaborative partnerships with organizations that seek to advance diverse and inclusive opportunities
Support membership engagement, as well as new and prospective practitioners, entering the public relations field

For more information, contact Diversity & Inclusion Chair Connie Kottman at crkottman@vcu.edu.

PRSA Richmond’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Promise

We, the board and members of PRSA Richmond, believe that every individual is valuable to the organization. We pledge and promise to make this organization as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as possible. We honor everyone’s unique background, and vow to not discriminate against anyone based on race, color, religion, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, genetic information, or any basis protected by law.

Here’s how we define diversity, equity, and inclusion:

Diversity – Diversity is the acceptance of people from varying backgrounds and life experiences. We believe that our organization thrives when we are as diverse as the people we serve. We acknowledge history, and we are intentionally paying attention to those who belong to historically disenfranchised groups, making sure that we make every effort to connect with and invite/solicit goods, services, products, and membership from these groups.

Equity – Equity is being fair and impartial. We will not discriminate against others based on our own biases, and make sure to check our biases as much and as often as possible.

Inclusion – Inclusion is providing an environment that honors everyone’s voice and everyone’s unique traits. We vow to provide an open environment that allows people to feel free to express their different perspectives, voices, ideas, and opinions. We become a better organization when we include diverse perspectives – we can better serve each other and our members.

We agree to the following:

Board recruitment – We will make it a priority to actively seek and include diverse board members, taking into consideration the need for equity on our board. To ensure diversity, we will consider innovative means, including asking people outside of our networks, advertising for positions, and sponsoring one member of the board who may not be able to afford membership.

Programming and Events – We will make it a priority to actively seek and include diverse program speakers/panelists and topics or content for programming. We will examine our speakers to ensure they provide some type of diversity, inclusion, and equity in their topics, and we will include their approach to diversity, inclusion, and equity in our evaluation of the speaker’s success. We will also seek and include diverse audiences for our special events and consider innovative means to advertise and partner with other organizations when necessary.

Member recruitment – We will make it a priority to actively seek and include diverse members, paying attention to those who may be in professions that we do not typically see representation from. We will consider innovative means, including active outreach to specific groups to recruit members.

Vendors – we will actively seek and include diverse vendors and consider innovative means to find diverse spaces as well as service providers for our events and meetings. We will make sure that our spaces are welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

Wherever we can incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion in our efforts, we vow to do so.