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PRSA Detroit Annual 2021 Chapter Meeting

Posted on Dec. 20, 2021  /  Subscribe 0

2021 marks another year for resilience and flexibility. We’ve continued our commitment to education and professional development through a collection of creative virtual programming. Together, we’ve learned how to roll out COVID-19 vaccine communications and garnered a greater understanding of our role in creating an inclusive future. We’ve mentored candidates in pursuit of accreditation and in a climate of misinformation, rebuilt trust in our communications.

As the year winds down, the Annual Chapter Meeting presented a time to reflect on our professional and personal accomplishments and set goals for the New Year.

We honored our 2021 outgoing president, Sharon Tatom Garcia, APR, for her service to PRSA and the Detroit community. She shared a special thanks to Treasurer Maribeth Farkas and Secretary TaQuinda Johnson as well as to each PRSA Detroit committee.

From one president to the next, we passed the gavel to our 2022 president, Michelle Gilbert. Michelle championed the importance of getting involved early in her personal story about standing “behind the eight ball” in her professional journey.

The end of this year brings a new year of board members and officials. We voted unanimously to inaugurate the following slate:

• Executive Board Secretary – Megan Bonelli, Account Supervisor, Stratacomm
• Board of Directors – Lisa Peers, Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide
• Board of Directors – Bianca Kashat, Communications Coordinator, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
• Board of Directors – David Whitman, APR, Principal, SmithGroup

Continuing the spirit of professional development, the Chapter’s Accreditation Chairs Kristin Sokol, APR, and Jennifer Morozowski, APR, welcomed three newly accredited members, listed below. With this badge of honor, these individuals demonstrate a profound commitment to the “highest levels of [PR] practice and ethical standards.”

• Kevin Byrnes, APR – Content Supervisor, Detroit Public Schools Community District
• Dave Whitman, APR – Principal, SmithGroup
• Chrystal J. Wilson, APR – Asst. Supt. Communication, Detroit Public Schools Community District

Every year, we award a scholarship to an accomplished undergraduate student in the communications field. This year, Elizabeth Ryan, Wayne State University (WSU) PRSSA Detroit Chapter President and senior communication major, earned our Donald P. Durocher Memorial Scholarship. At WSU, she found a home in the school’s “fun, inclusive environment” and in their renowned PR program.

To round out the meeting, we celebrated our 2021 award recipients.:

• Nancy Skidmore Distinguished Service Award: Rachel LePoudre, APR
• Robert Hefty Distinguished Service Award: Jennifer Flowers-Kolf, APR
• Hall of Fame: Georgella Bascom Muirhead, APR, and Lisa Vallee-Smith, APR

Rachel has consistently maintained the Chapter’s social media presence with her relevant, engaging and authentic posts. In presenting Rachel’s award, Nancy Skidmore remarked, “Every year the world becomes smaller, more social and more connected,” and we have Rachel to thank for PRSA Detroit’s contribution to the digital space.

Jennifer holds a long legacy of service at the Chapter district and PRSA National. When she first joined PRSA Detroit, she looked up to the award winners and thought that she “someday may be like them.” With her two decades of accomplished involvement, Jennifer joins alongside those individuals she aspired to be.

Georgella and Lisa were awarded the Chapter’s highest recognition.

Georgella continuously supports the greater good of the Detroit community and fought for her place in PR “not only as a woman but also as an African American.” Entering her 45^th year as a PR professional, she practices PR at the highest level of mastery and ethics.

As the founder of Airfoil, Lisa created one of Detroit's first agencies to bring in technology firms from across the nation. She holds a great passion for PR and an even greater passion for the community. Lisa remains an avid supporter of WSU’s PR program and several social service agencies from Forgotten Harvest to the American Heart Association.

At the close of the meeting, John Truscott, CEO of Truscott Rossman, shared a witty, touching remembrance of Kelly Rossman-McKinney, APR, last year’s hall of fame inductee who passed away last month to cancer. As a champion for young women in PR, a person whose humor could wake up any room and “a chick in charge,” Kelly will be dearly missed.

As we begin 2022 planning, the Chapter is always looking for enthusiastic and diverse, members to join our diverse committees. If you’d like to get involved, contact Michelle Gilbert.

Richard Doan is a PR intern at Comcast and a fourth-year business administration and telecommunication major at the University of Florida.

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