A Statement by the Board of Trustees of the Public Relations Round Table of San Francisco
It is hard to find the right words to say to people who are feeling great pain, and this, most unfortunately, is that time. We are all 
disturbed about our world in the aftermath of the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks—and the underlying and unresolved issues in our nation and world that these tragedies represent. We are all looking for answers to some very tough questions. As public relations and communications practitioners, as members of a public relations organization, we are committed to finding ways to help make this world a more equitable place.
As a Board of the Public Relations Round Table of the San Francisco Bay Area, we have discussed things we want to do now–both as individual practitioners and as an organization. Some of these are practices we have been following and some are new things we plan to do.
- Be the best advisors we can be to our clients and colleagues in promoting diversity and understanding, and treating all communities, and specifically communities of people of color, with thoughtful care and concern.
- Organize a discussion about public relations and race with representatives of our profession (this is in the planning stages).
- Offer presentations and meetings that showcase our members and all of our communities, paying attention that we offer all points of view.
- Highlight and praise fellow professionals and businesses who are doing the right things and find ways to caution those who are not.
- Showcase a spectrum of PR professionals in our communications and on our website.
- Mentor young people in all our communities to ensure equality of opportunity.
- Ensure we are awarding our annual Philip N. McCombs Scholarships to college students who represent a diverse and broad cross section of the Bay Area.
This is only a beginning. Please share your thoughts and ideas with us on what we as an organization can do. Thank you.
Molly A. Walker, Chair, on behalf of the PR Round Table Board, June 25, 2020