SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 18, 2012)- The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)'s local chapters in Detroit and Orange County, Calif., were presented with PRSA Chapter Diversity Awards at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco.

The Chapter Diversity Award recognizes and rewards PRSA Chapters that embody and advance diversity. To win the award, a Chapter must have initiated and maintained a successful diversity program within the prior year, recruited or mentored members with interests and expertise in diversity, demonstrated significant contributions toward diversity and established diversity as one of their top strategic goals.

"Across our organization, PRSA is focused and working on the achievement of specific diversity goals, such as encouraging more ethnically and culturally diverse individuals to pursue careers in public relations, increasing diversity within the ranks of PRSA members and leaders and educating members about the benefits of a diverse profession," said PRSA 2012 Chair and CEO Gerard F. Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA.

With diversity as its guiding theme for 2012, the PRSA Detroit Chapter reached out to groups that are not immediately top of mind when the topic of diversity is discussed, including Detroit's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) and Arab American communities. Also, by focusing on less-common diversity topics, and requiring each of its committees to pursue diversity goals as part of their annual strategic plans, the Detroit Chapter was one of the only communications organizations in Michigan to feature regular, rich programming and content focusing on diversity issues relevant to the public relations profession.

Among the Orange County Chapter's notable diversity achievements in 2012 was its " Emerging Markets: A Global PR Perspective"conference. The program called attention to the themes outlined in the PRSA white paper, "The Public Relations Professional of 2015,"which included globalization and the need to be adaptive to stakeholders from different cultures, to communicate with stakeholders in their primary language and to segment physical and virtual communities that may cross borders and cultures.

"Our profession continues to face significant diversity hurdles, and we have a long road ahead before we can truly say that our workforce reflects the racial and ethnic composition of the communities in which we live and work," said PRSA Diversity Committee Chair Natalie T.J. Tindall, Ph.D., APR. "We need public relations professionals to understand that achieving diversity in the work place is a smart business strategy for any company that wants to achieve and maintain a competitive edge in today's diverse marketplace."

In conjunction with the winning the PRSA Chapter Diversity Award, the Detroit and Orange County chapters will receive a small cash stipend to put toward future diversity efforts.

About the Public Relations Society of America
PRSAis the largest professional organization serving the U.S. public relations community. With a mission to "advance the profession and the professional," PRSA provides news and information, thought leadership, continuing education and networking opportunities; sets standards of professional excellence and ethical conduct; and advocates for the business value of public relationsand greater diversityamong public relations professionals. Based in New York, PRSA comprises 112 local Chapters; 14 Professional Interest Sectionsthat focus on specific industries and practice areas; and the Public Relations Student Society of America.