Like all aspects in business, diversity and inclusion plays a vital role in public relations. Diversity in the workplace is essential because reflects the world we live in while also providing various perspectives and a greater range of talent. With that being said, why is it that womenof color are hard to come by in the PR field? Although this is not the only issue of diversity, it is one that is lacking severely. Ashley Small, Founder and CEO of Medley Inc. does not shy away from this conversation. Being an African American Woman in public relations and digital marketing herself, Smalls has always noticed a void to be filled in the industry. In 2008 after working for a multitude of notable brands, political figures, and non-profits, she made it her goal to merge PR with the latest trends in technology while keeping in mind this diversity factor.
In 2009, Smalls founded Medley Inc. which is a PR and Digital Marketing Firm that specializes in Arts, Health, Education & Nonprofit. This minority and Woman-Owned firm has an emphasis on helping assorted markets through branding, social media, and public relations. Smalls continues to be an advocate for diversity in public relations today along with many other women of color who commend her, while demanding for their voices to finally be heard. The notorious lifestyle magazine for African American women called Essence featured Ashley smalls in 2017 with an article titled “Black Women to Know in PR, Tech, and Digital Media”. In the article, smalls wrote about 11 remarkable women of color in various fields relating to media that deserved more recognition. Moreover, she included her personal experiences of the lack of diversity in these fields, and how to move forward to bridge the gap.
Overall, ethnic and gender diversity is a key quality every successful business should possess, and the PR industry definitely has work to do. People like Ashley Smalls has been and still is a major contributor to the goal of bridging the gap of inclusion for all races, genders, ethnicity’s, age, and physical and mental disabilities in Public Relations.
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