One of Campaign Collective’s Founder Members, Simon Francis, will stand to be chair of the Public Relations and Communications Association Council.
The Council is the formal mechanism for the Association to consult with the industry’s most senior practitioners on the issues PR and communications faces; to act as a think-tank for the industry; to inform the PRCA’s strategic priorities; and to produce helpful commentary, advice and best-practice guidance for PR and communications professionals.
There are two leadership positions up for election (Chair and Vice-Chair) as well as the general council members. The candidate with the most votes becomes Chair and the one with the second most votes will be Vice Chair.
Recent scandals involving Ruth Davidson MSP, “pride-washing” and “astro-turfing” show that the profession has not moved on fast enough and far enough from the Bell Pottinger scandal.
Simon will be standing on a platform to build on the work the profession has been doing to improve ethics, diversity and standards. He comments:
Underpinning our work on all these vital themes must be a step change in demonstrating the positive social impact the profession has.
The PRCA Council has made bold steps in agreeing a definition for social impact, but we need a dedicated drive to move this agenda forward.
Demonstrating our social impact will improve recruitment and retention, ensure we are talking the language of board rooms and procurement teams and show to the public that we are a globally aware, responsible profession.
The first ever analysis of the social impact of PR and communications agencies revealed that 80% of practitioners have helped meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition, three quarters have encouraged workplace diversity with two-thirds involved in genuine corporate social responsibility programmes.
Simon added:
This is a platform we can build on and, as a Founder of Campaign Collective, a social enterprise PR agency, I would be delighted to lead that charge.
Voting in the election among PRCA Council Members ends on 5 December 2019.