Gwendolyn Quinn is more accustomed to working behind the scenes than in the spotlight. So imagine her reaction when word arrived that the New York City Council was
issuing a proclamation honoring the African American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC), a professional society Quinn founded in October 2001.
"I was surprised and thrilled," she says. "As a PR professional, I've organized and competed for awards on behalf of my clients. I did not realize someone was doing this for
us."
The honor was clearly a tribute to the indefatigable Quinn, who created her New York agency GQ Media & Public Relations simultaneous to launching AAPRC. Having lost
her job in the corporate world in economic meltdown following 9/11 (she was previously vice president of publicity at Capitol Records), Quinn took an entrepreneurial
approach and never looked back. But in 2001, she realized many African American professionals lacked networking connections to survive that rocky economic period.
"A lot of people in the industry did not know each other," she recalls. "I wanted to make an effort for people to get to know each other."
Quinn observes many African American PR professionals have gone entrepreneurial by default rather than design. "Many independent boutique agencies started as a result of
people not getting ahead in mainstream PR firms," she says. "For many, there comes a time when you reach a glass ceiling. Either you decide to stay with the company or you do
something on your own."
Quinn notes industry-wide efforts to promote diversity in hiring registered progress in recent years, but more work is needed. "There are a lot of qualified people out there
to work at those agencies," she adds. "There's no reason why it's not happening."
Contact: Gwendolyn Quinn, [email protected].