PR Council Diversity and Inclusion Pledge

Diversity and Inclusion is a priority of the PR Council (PRC) and its Member agencies. The PRC, along with our Member agencies pledge that in 2018, we will continue to increase our efforts in building and promoting greater diversity and inclusion in our industry. We aim to create cultures of inclusivity where professionals of all backgrounds— race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or age —are supported and encouraged.

The PRC has been and remains committed to creating resources, providing tools and holding informative seminars like unconscious bias trainings to foster productive and inclusive conversations around these issues. With this pledge, we encourage agencies to learn from and work together through one another’s accomplishments and missteps, by sharing best practices.

Outlined below is our Member Agencies’ commitment to the industry.

1. We will make our organizations a place where all employees feel safe, valued, welcomed and included. We will celebrate our employees’ differences, and create open dialogue and foster environments to encourage trust and inclusion among peers. We will encourage collaboration and shared learning among our employees.

2. We will inform our employees about our company’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) strategies through ongoing communication, and encouraged participation in events and initiatives.

3. We will strive to provide mandatory D&I and/or unconscious bias trainings (webinars, workshops, e-learning, etc.) to educate our employees. This can include free webinar trainings that the PR Council and other industry bodies, including the Arthur Paige Society and the PRSA Foundation, have provided.

4. We will work collaboratively with other agencies to share our experiences and will participate in the PRC Diversity Census to track industry progress. We will provide details on our successes and our missteps, to keep the conversations honest and relevant.

5. We will strive to recruit and retain diverse talent within our organizations at each level. We will work with and proactively engage outside organizations and programs, including higher education institutions, affinity groups, professional organizations, etc., to foster diverse talent. We will strive to widen our networks and continue to diversify the outside sources we tap into.

6. We will commit to having our agency leadership teams (SVP and above) establish targets to make meaningful change on an annual basis.