Communications and Public Relations Leaders as Anti-Racism Change Agents: A Call to Action

Sharlyn Carrington, Gail Strachan, Sara Goldvine, Parm Chohan, Sarah Thomas & Terry Flynn

This has been a year like no other. We are, in many ways, living through a time when the very systems we’ve all taken for granted are being disrupted. While the pandemic has led to untold death and pain, which we are still living through, this has also been a year when many people with privilege became aware of racial injustice to a degree they were not aware of before.

When Black Lives Matter demonstrations were driving conversations around the world this summer, a group of alumni and professors from the McMaster-Syracuse Master of Communication Management program gathered virtually for our own discussions. It shouldn’t have taken the death of George Floyd or hundreds of days worth of protests to make this conversation happen. As arbiters of conversation, Public Relations and Communications Management professionals should have been having these conversations collectively and meaningfully long ago.

And that’s what we started to do. Over several weeks, experts from a range of sectors shared their research and insights diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Speakers included Gail Strachan on the Role of Corporate PR in the BLM Movement, Sharlyn Carrington on Black Representation Matters, Chuck Wallington on African-American Males in PR, Sara Goldvine on Bringing an Equity Lens to Communications Strategy, Parm Chohan on Engagement with your Workforce and Community, and Eileen Marlowe on Indigenous Relations Done Right from Within.

We aren’t losing sight of this conversation. As communicators we need this. Many of us are aware of the issues and need clear direction on what our role is as communicators in addressing these problems.

We are excited to share that we will be hosting a summit in early 2021 where Canadian communications and public relations professionals will convene to develop an action plan for our profession. This will be an opportunity for those who want to help evolve our profession to get together (virtually), exchange ideas, and develop guiding practices that we can then share with others.

Many people choose this profession precisely because it allows us to advance the public interest by stewarding relationships between organizations and the diverse people they serve. We are at the intersection of different perspectives, different voices, different world views. It is our responsibility to use communications to help these various communities build mutual understanding in order to advance an organization’s goals and, ultimately, those of the public as a whole.

To do that effectively, we need to understand our communities. And this is where the communications and public relations profession still has much room to grow. Our profession has a legacy that we have known about for many years, and it’s beyond time that we confronted it: we do not reflect the communities we serve.

The profession is overwhelmingly white, particularly at the most senior levels (where it is also disproportionately male). We have low levels of representation from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), people with disabilities, trans people, and people who are neuro-diverse. How low? We don’t actually know, as there hasn’t been a diversity census or survey done of the profession.

To that effect, we are making changes and soon enough with collaboration across the IABC, CPRS and CCPRF, we will have a data-driven dialogue to put a strategy in place to make this change.

Our profession could have the power to help build a better world in a way few others are positioned to. To optimize that power, however, we need systemic change. This means challenging the status quo, so that we can include voices that have been systematically excluded or minimized.

What are the barriers to entry to the profession? Whose voices are being included? And whose aren’t? What do we need to do to diversify the profession, and even more importantly to build an inclusive profession so that people from diverse backgrounds can thrive? How can we create a culture where everyone belongs?

Research by one of our founding researchers in the profession, James Grunig, suggested that if we are to be the profession of leadership, we need to put it ahead of the career ambitions too many of us have fallen prey to. This is not going to be an easy task, but it will set us apart to be the trusted advisors we have all worked hard to be known for.

We invite you to join a conversation to kick-start the planning for the summit. Your ideas, questions, insights and time will help shape the conference agenda, guarantee the value of the summit, and shape the future of PR.

If you work in public relations, communications, marketing, or a related field, join us on Thursday November 12 at 7:00 pm ET  [Please register here]. This is an exciting time to be part of shaping the future, and together we can make it one where we all belong.