A Coalition of Organizations Sponsors
Regional Conference on Minority Diversity in PR
Strategies to Achieve Minority Diversity in Public Relations

(AANEWSWIRE)Washington, DC - June 23, 2005 - In light of the current "talent war" for professionals in the field of public relations, an extraordinary one-day conference will be held in this city on July 19, 2005, to assist public relations firms in the job recruitment and retention of minority professionals.

The conference, entitled "Strategies to Achieve Minority Diversity in Public Relations", is being co-sponsored by the Black Public Relations Society of Washington, D.C., Diversity Best Practices, Inc., Howard University John H. Johnson School of Communications, the National Capital Chapter of PRSA, the National Urban League, and 10 major public relations firms.

The conference will be held at The George Washington University Cafritz Conference Center. Multicultural experts on corporate diversity have been selected to speak, emphasizing recruitment and retention strategies. A registration fee of $100.00 will include breakfast, lunch and a concluding networking reception/job fair. Attendance will be limited to 200.

Actively participating in the planning of the conference are human resources executives and public relations practitioners of the following firms: Burson-Marsteller, Edelman, Fleishman-Hillard, GMMB, Golin Harris, Hill & Knowlton, Ketchum, Manning, Selvage & Lee, Porter Novelli, and Ruder Finn.

The convener and chairman of the conference planning committee is Ofield Dukes, APR, Fellow PRSA, who has operated his own public relations firm in Washington for 36 years. Dukes served for three years as chairman of the PRSA National Task Force on Diversity.

"This conference is designed specifically to provide PR firms with expert advice on practical strategies, tactics, means and methods for doing what Fortune 500 companies have effectively done in aggressively recruiting and retaining racially diverse employees, reflective of a multicultural marketplace." Dukes said. "Since Washington is the communications and public relations capital of the world, what we produce at this regional conference has implications for the public relations industry throughout the country."

Components of the conference include:
l A pre-conference diversity survey, conducted by Diversity Best Practices and the Howard University John H. Johnson School of Communications
l A database of highly qualified minority professionals
l A diversity resources network, available for attendees

Confirmed panelists on diversity recruitment and retention are:
Karen Johns, Executive Director, Diversity Pipleline Alliance; Wanda Jackson, Vice President, Human Resources, National Urban League; Marcela M. Berland, President & CEO, Latin Insights LLC; Kay Iwata, CEO of Iwata Associates, Inc. and author of "The Power of Diversity: Five Essential Competencies for Leading a Diverse Workforce"; R. Robby Gregg, Jr., Director of Diversity Communications, America Online; Stephen J. Pemberton, Chief Diversity Officer, Monster.com; Erick Mejia, Financial Representative, Merrill Lynch; Karen Penn, Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer, SAIC, and Rodney Ruffin, Director of Diversity, Amtrak.

Another panel will include minority practitioners employed by several public relations firms.

Edie Fraser, President, Diversity Best Practices, which represents more than 150 Fortune 500 companies and organizations actively engaged in promoting corporate diversity, said: "This is a great opportunity for the PR firms to drive change. With 70% of every job in America going to a minority or a woman in the next several years, the time has come for the PR firms to focus on minority representation as a smart and priority business strategy to gain a competitive edge."

The conference is being financed by voluntary contributions from the sponsoring public relations firms.

For information on conference registration, please log on to www.prsa-ncc.org/diversity.

# # #