What a comeback we started in 2022! I’m excited, honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the next Chapter President (with the phenomenal support of our 2023 Board of Directors!), and help shepherd the continued growth and reemergence of our PR community in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

PRSA San Francisco prides itself on lending support and serving as a resource to our membership. This year is no different with more face-to-face opportunities to connect (and reconnect) with one another more often. We want to make sure you have as many chances to learn from our intelligent, diverse and talented PRSA peers by bringing us together. 

 

New professional development opportunities, mentoring programming and cross-discipline partnerships also are in the works. A couple of examples of the great things we have coming up in 2023 include the following:

• In February, we will kick off Third Thursdays, a casual, social networking opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. This monthly staple will have pop-ups across the Bay Area, with so many of us more decentralized and working in neighborhoods beyond SF city limits, with a few dates scheduled in the East Bay and the Peninsula to offer more local experiences. 
• After several successful years of partnering on one of premier holiday events for PR, marketing, and communications professionals around, we are extending our partnership with AMA San Francisco to include a Summer Celebration in August, as a way to launch us into the latter part of the year. We have also joined forces with several top organizations to support the Bay Area Advertising & Marketing Mentor Program, extending ourselves in an effort to foster professional development of those in our industry.

Importantly, we will create opportunities to educate our members on the challenging landscape and elevate minority voices. We remain focused on our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, including characteristics, identities and their intersectionality - including race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, culture, age, gender, gender identity and diversity of thought. These defining attributes impact how we approach our work, connect with others and move through the world. 

I’ll wrap my note by saying: our members are valued and my goal as President is to ensure you feel that from our organization. If you’re currently a PRSA member, thank you for your commitment to the growth and connections of the PR industry. If you’re not a PRSA member, do consider joining. Learn more about the PRSA-SF membership benefits. 

We also want to hear from you! If you ever have any questions, feedback, or are interested in getting more involved and learning about volunteer opportunities, please reach out to me directly at info@prsasf.org or connect via LinkedIn. 

Thank you to my stellar Board of Directors, and a BIG thank you to you for being a part of our PRSA San Francisco Bay Area community. We’re here for you, and we’re looking forward to a fabulous and successful year!

See you soon. Cheers,

Katina Tinka Bush
2023 PRSA San Francisco Bay Area Chapter President