NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The PR Council is proud to announce a new initiative, aptly named The SHEQUALITY Project, designed to help women executives rise in the ranks of public relations agencies. SHEQUALITY aims to create a consistent pipeline of strong female leaders, mentors and allies, to engender more women leaders, and to achieve equality in the top positions at PR firms of all sizes.
The initiative was sparked by female board members of the PR Council committed to seeing more women achieve success by sharing the tools, knowledge and pathways to help them reach career goals. The SHEQUALITY Project committee is led by Maureen Lippe, CEO of Lippe Taylor, who said "This started out as a desire to bring top women leaders together to network and has turned into a powerful and relevant program for executive women in the PR industry. We are all very excited and committed to making this new program a great success."
The SHEQUALITY Project’s official launch took place during Women’s History Month at a Museum of Public Relations’ first annual event curated by Shelley Spector, founder of the museum. On March 9 at 6pm, a panel discussion entitled “PR Women Who Changed History” featured Anne Bernays, novelist, teacher, and daughter of Doris Fleischman Bernays, wife of Edward Bernays; Muriel Fox, co-founder and PR director, National Organization for Women; Meg Lamme, professor, University of Alabama; and Karen Miller Russell, professor, University of Georgia. The panel was emceed by Renee Wilson, president, PR Council.
The SHEQUALITY mandate is to build women’s skills, advocate for an environment of equality regarding gender pay, career opportunities and financial backing/funding, as well as to create more champions for women in the PR workforce. Specific activities under The SHEQUALITY Project’s umbrella are regional networking dinners, workshops and events and content creation to raise awareness and educate others on the topic including a video produced by the film team at Weber Shandwick. Three workshops planned in 2017 include:
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“Acing Operations & Financial Management” – May 2017
Financial management and operations for rising female executives
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“Owning & Navigating the Room” – August 2017
Perception of women in leadership, personal branding and unconscious bias
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“Choosing Your C-Suite Seat” – November 2017
Strategic networking, executive coaches and women who inspire
Members of the The SHEQUALITY Project committee are:
- Karen van Bergen, CEO, Omnicom Public Relations Group
- Jennifer Cohan, President, Edelman New York
- Virginia Devlin, Founder & President, Current Marketing
- Sandra Fathi, President, Affect
- Gail Heimann, President, Weber Shandwick
- Maureen Lippe, CEO, Lippe Taylor
- Barri Rafferty, Partner & President, Ketchum
- Barby Siegel, CEO, Zeno Group
- Renee Wilson, President, PR Council
If you would like more information on The SHEQUALITY Project and how you can get involved, please contact the PR Council at sghazaii@prcouncil.net or register here to receive news and information on the initiative.
The PR Council is the trade association of America’s leading communications and public relations firms. Its membership represents the premier global, mid-sized, regional and specialty firms across every discipline and practice area. The Council’s mission is to advocate for and advance the business of communications and public relations firms by building the market and the value of firms as strategic business partners. For more information about the Council, visit prcouncil.net.
