Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Communications continues to be an essential function, particularly as companies, organizations and individuals continue to wade through pandemic challenges. The PRNEWS editorial team highlights some innovations and predictions we predict will be important for 2022. 

Some learnings emerged from our survey of nearly 300 communicators conducted in October and November 2021. The most newsworthy was what issues are concerning crisis pros. Besides COVID, they include: DEI, misinformation/disinformation, activism, cyber, natural disasters and employee/executive misconduct.

This month’s dialogue takes a slight variation from our usual route. We won’t explore an operational topic, such as ‘What to do during a crisis when your CEO goes off-script.’ Instead, as it’s nearly 2022, we’ve asked two crisis communicators to consider 2021 trends and discuss what they believe 2022 will bring. Our dialoguers are Sonia Diaz, SVP, Balsera Communications and president, Hispanic Public Relations Association USA (HPRA) and Jenelle Eli, senior director, media relations + international communications, American Red Cross.

If you search ‘Native American PR pioneers,’ you will be hard-pressed to find one name, let alone a list. Not because there haven’t been Native Americans who excelled in PR, but because most never held a traditional PR title. But suppose you are willing to dig a bit deeper and look at PR not as a title but as a role or a mission. In that case, you will find that there are many Native Americans who not only practiced PR, but helped shape the world through the spoken and written word.

Netflix is in a prolonged internal-turned-external communications crisis following controversy over comedian Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special, “The Closer.” In it, the comedian doubled down on dismissive remarks he has made about the transgender community.

PRNEWS Live welcomed Brandon Espinosa, VP of brand and partnerships for The Bronx Brewery. Espinosa discussed how the craft beer industry is focusing on DEI, as well as communications and meeting consumer needs throughout the pandemic.

The prominence of multiculturalism in media is very noticeable. Still, it has been painfully slow. As Latinos conclude celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month this week, emphasizing representation is as relevant as ever.

For Indigenous Peoples’ Day, President Biden issued a proclamation that included some communication best practices. Some brands weaved celebration of Indigenous culture and acknowledgement of centuries-long displacement and discrimination throughout their internal and external communication.

Communicators must critique company culture, making it a safe, inclusive place. Do this continuously, our author writes.

In a broad-reaching conversation via virtual roundtable, we discussed the impact the pandemic has had on the deaf community, the lessons learned about communicating during crises,  how so-called mainstream communicators can work to make accessibility part of their DEI conversations and what corporations looking to embrace DEI and accessibility should do to push forward inclusive campaigns.