Meet the Board: Mitchell Friedman, Ed. D., APR our 2021 PRSA-SF Director, Ethics
Over the coming months, we are going to be introducing you to our 2021 Board of Directors. We are excited to learn more about them and share their experience and expertise with you. Please meet our Director of Ethics, Mitchell Friedman, Ed. D., APR.
Tell us about yourself and your current role.
I teach full-time for the Naval Postgraduate School, located in Monterey, Calif. My students are primarily in the US Navy, but other branches of the US military are represented as well. My classes cover management communication, organizational behavior, and leadership. I also advise a lot of students completing theses and other research projects. In addition, I teach an annual communications campaigns class at University of San Francisco.
How did you get into PR?
I gradually found my way to the field, a few years after earning a master’s degree in Modern European History. In short, I had come to love doing publicity (which I largely learned on my own) and networked my way into my first position at a now-defunct Silicon Valley public relations agency. For the full story of my PR career, go here: https://www.prsa.org/article/persistence-chance-and-luck-can-make-a-pr-career
What do you love about PR?
I’ve always viewed the world through a public relations lens, so in that sense the discipline has provided me with a framework that has informed my teaching and consulting. More broadly, I love the energy and enthusiasm of practitioners—and I especially LOVE the agency environment. It offers an optimal learning and development experience, even though it often can be absolutely crazy ☺.
Why are you in PRSA-SF? What do you feel the benefits have been for you?
I want to stay in touch with current public relations practice, and being a part of the chapter has helped me to do that. I also am continually inspired by the individuals who step up to serve in leadership roles, for without them there would not be a chapter.
What are you hoping to accomplish during your year as Director of Ethics with PRSA-SF?
I want to provide a more extensive and regular platform for the discussion of ethical issues in public relations.
What's one piece of advice you wish you would have known when you started out in PR?
“Public relations” is in fact a very broad term, with what agencies do only a very small piece of a very large puzzle. I wished I had known about that at the very outset of my career (I didn’t study public relations in school, mind you).
What are some of your hobbies? What do you do for fun?
I read history. I’ve learned to enjoy social media for purposes other than those that directly relate to my work (that’s been a process). I hang out with my wife and Silas (our cat).