Shanita Baraka Akintonde
Associate Professor
Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Applying for: At-Large Director
Alternate Position(s):
Biography
PRSA needs me. I am an African American female, PR trailblazer that's two parts humble, three parts moxy armed with ten times the enthusiasm needed to serve PRSA in this capacity. As a tenured professor with 18 years of teaching experience, 10+ years of industry experience, I'm prepared to join a team that wants to take any organization that I am a part of to the next level. Need proof?
PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS:
Masters of Business Administration, Illinois Institute of technology
Masters in Education, Loyola University Chicago
BA, Marketing Communication, Columbia College Chicago
Born in Stuttgart, West Germany and raised on the South Side of Chicago, my initial dreams were to become a singer. Fast forward to my senior year of college, at which time I was named as the FIRST recipient of the PRSA Multicultural Scholarship offered by the Chicago Chapter. This occasion allowed me to ‘hit the ground running’ at several global agencies such as Burrell and Porter Novelli among others upon graduation. And though I have received numerous other awards over the years, the PRSA scholarship remains at the top of my list because it opened the doors to a great career—perhaps not a shared sentiment among African Americans in other media.
My ambassadorship as the inaugural winner of the PRSA Chicago Chapter Scholarship set me on a trajectory for success in the PR field that I wish to pay forward. This is a journey that began with my established mentor/protégé relationship with Cheryl Procter-Rogers (former PRSA National President), who not only presented me with the scholarship but now serves as a friend and confidante. My involvement with PRSA has steadily increased over my nearly 20 year membership with the organization and includes involvement with the Betsy Plank Center; serv ice as a PRSSA advisor and most recently my role on the PRSA Chicago Board of Directors, to name a few. I also regularly attend both local and national PRSA events, most specifically the annual PRSA International conference.
My role as an award-winning PR practitioner at several global agencies including Burrell Communications Group and Porter Novelli early in my career serves as a major influence on my current position in Academia where as a tenured professor. I am afforded the opportunity to counsel students interested in the PR field. I am also fully vested in developing and teaching courses in the communication arena that fall under the multicultural tenet.
During my 17-year tenure as an educator and administrative leader at Columbia, my trajectory includes teaching, faculty and student advocacy and scholarly innovation. My teaching repertoire spans the areas of marketing, advertising, public relations and television including courses that I have developed such as Marketing to Women and Hip Hop Cultural Trends in Advertising. On a national scale, I am a highly sought after speaker whose efforts to educate and motivate members of marginalized groups is regularly noticed by peers, in both academia and industry alike. My signature presentation suite--Women who R.O.A.R.R. (Reject Oppression and Reclaim Respect), is a series of uniquely developed workshops that range from depictions of female “leaders who can” to the necessity for proper depiction of women in the media. Her expansion of this area of scholarship appears in the self-published book, “Unleash the Leader Within You: How to Achieve
the Success that You Deserve,” where she serves as a contributing author.
A self-professed ‘life-long’ learner, my educational background includes a BA in advertising and fiction writing (Columbia College); an MBA (Illinois Institute of Technology) and a M.Ed. (Loyola University Chicago) where I have also complete all doctoral coursework in the same program. I am certified in the Art of Leadership (Lake Forest College of Management), Advanced Advertising (University of Illinois—Urbana) and Toastmasters International. A professional speaker and member of The National Speaker's Association, I am regularly invited to deliver keynote addresses, lectures and workshops in the areas of media, diversity and leadership around the globe.
Beyond Columbia, I serve as President, Alliance for Women in Media, Chicago Chapter (awmchicago.org) which under my leadership over the past year has developed several signature programs including The Media Hall of Femme, which honors female trailblazers in the Chicago Media field. As a result of efforts like these, the Chicago Chapter has DOUBLED its membership under my direction; International Delegate, The Public Relations Society of America, where I serve on the Global Affairs Committee; and Immediate Past Chair, The Executive Women's Committee, The Metropolitan Club Chicago, where I have implemented another signature event--The Woman of the Year Award which is now being considered for adoption by The ClubCorp, one of the largest private club organizations in the nation. Further, I am a 25-year member of The American Marketing Association; A 19-year member, The Public Relations Society of America and a 25-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Other memberships include The International Leadership Association, The American Association of University Women, The National Speakers Association, and The Chicago Advertising Federation.
PRSA Accomplishments
PRSA VOLUNTEER WORK:
Elected International delegate, Global Affairs Committee, 2015-present
PRSA Educators Academy, 2013-present
Board Member, PRSA Chicago Chapter, 2011-12
Chair, PRSA Chicago Chapter, Scholarship Awards 2011-12
Chair, PRSA Chicago Chapter Skyline Awards 2012
PRSSA International Conference Faculty Liaison, 2012, 2015
PRSA, Multicultural Section, 2007
Governance Skills
I play a leadership role on three boards:
The Metropolitan Club Chicago, a premier organization for key corporate and non-profit industry leaders in Chicago and is housed atop one of the largest spaces in the country--Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) Chicago;
The Northshore Hospital Auxiliary Board which oversees, Evanston, Highland Park and Glenview Hospitals and is responsible for over $3 million in revenue; and
The AKArama Foundation, Inc., the non-profit arm of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the oldest and arguably the largest Black Greek Sorority in American history.
For each of these entities my responsibilities include strategic planning, fiscal monitoring, ensuring organizational effectivenss, prioritization and making key governance decisions.
The Met Club was recently acquired by the Hyatt Corporation and is undergoing a total facility 'makeover' for which myself and fellow board members sit at the helm. As a member of The NorthShore Auxiliary Board, I am charged with reviewing reports and supporting evidence in order to decide which physician's medical research project will receive a minimum of $250,000 annual support for the next three years and for the AKArama Foundation I serve as the PR officer chartged with informing the Chicaoland community of all of the social service programs provided by this service organization. I feel honored and privileged to serve in that capacity for each of these important organizations.
Leadership Skills
I have written the book on leadership--literally. Well not an ENTIRE book, but a chapter. It's entitled "Unleash The Leader Within You" and is a work that was coined by myself and 11 other experts on the topic of leadership from various vantage points.
My chapter focuses on the need for diverse leaders--women and people of color, for example (for which I wear both hats). I examine the lessons conveyed in the kitchen, living room, and front porch of Lucille Jones or Great Grand as I called her, and the role of this family matriarch played in formulating my voice as an African American woman and leader.
The gap of diversity in leadership is essential in the leadership preparedness of future practitioners and is a topic that is often glaringly absent from industry discourse in general and in leadership conversations specifically. The deficit of dialogue around this issue is a tremendous disserv ice to indiv iduals who must learn to be multi-lingual, multi-modal communicators and leaders in order to live and compete in a global world.
Strengths
Take my hand and point me in the direction of your vision. That's all I need.
I am a self-starter who does what I say I am going to do and do not overcommit.
I am not afraid of the word "No", in order to ensure that my "Yeses" are sincere and oft times infections
As a tenured professor with indutry experience, I am passionate about the PR profession and can espouse its merits in both theory and practice. And espouse it very well. I am a certified professional speaker, a distinguuised Toastmaster (the organization's highest distinction) and a member of The National Speakers Association.
I am currently in the process of securing a weekly radio show on a local Chicago AM station as well as developing a podcast. In each of these spaces, I will share my views on the merits of our esteemed profession.
Volunteer Commitment
I am a servant leader. Interestingly enough, I find my greatest joy and passion comes from helping others. That's it. I am at my best when given a clear vision and purpose for the community and/or pro-bono organization in which I am charged to work with and then allowed to work my magic.
Quite simply, that is when I am at my best. Perhaps its the sense of freedom that my volunteer work instrinsically offers me. Or perhaps it is simply due to the fact that I conscientiusly choose to work only with those entities whose mission, vision and values squarely align with my own. Whatever the reason, all I can say is that volunteering is in my DNA.
My role as a tenured faculty member also allows me a great deal of flexibility in this capacity as well.
Position Statement #1
Prompt: The lines continue to blur among the disciplines of public relations, marketing, IT and customer service, and the need increases to create more collaborative teams and hybrid professionals. PRSA has continued to evolve and respond to these issues in support of our members, partners and colleagues. What do you believe are the strongest components of PRSA’s strategic plan that will help our members address these challenges, and how will PRSA remain relevant and sustainable for the future?
I have focused a large portion of my scholarship on the importance of collaboration. Whether across disciplines, such as marketing, IT, and public relations, or from members of diverse communities, collaboration is the key to success.
As a result of my work in this arena, I am regularly inv ited to facilitate workshops and deliver keynote presentations on topics of collaboration, diversity and leadership both nationally and locally where my messages have reached thousands of audience members.
I have served as moderator for many panels and conversations on this topic including a recent "On the Table" discussion sponsored by Chicago Community Trust. Chicago Community Trust initiative, On the Table, which engaged tens of thousands of Chicagoans in mealtime conversations was held on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 with discussions about ways to strengthen our city and our bonds with one another. I served as one of 5,000 table hosts registered with the Trust.
I was asked to secure “field agents” who were charged with fanning out across communities from Lincoln Park to Hyde Park, and Pilsen to Oak Park, to meet people, to talk with them about On the Table (OTT), and to encourage them to host an OTT event – even if that OTT was in that moment (for people who decided to have lunch, coffee or dinner when they were approached). The role of field agent was equal parts outreach, public affairs and social media – a well-rounded communications assignment. I secured a few Columbia graduates for the task, which allowed me to flex my PR mentoring muscle in relation to this citywide initiative, with impact, in a single day.
I also regularly serve as a peer reviewer for cross-disciplinary curricular offerings on my campus, and have recently been promoted to serve as a Program Director for a course for which I served as a member of the inaugural teaching cohort entitled, Culture, Race and Media.
Lastly, my past work has included facilitation of a “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” panel discussion which was based on the documentary film of the same name that was directed by Gini Reticker and produced by Abigail Disney, granddaughter of the late Walt Disney that highlights Liberian woman’s desire to end a bloody war and bring peace to their country during a peace movement called Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. Panel participants included Reticker and Disney as well as social worker, activ ist, and leader of this women’s movement, Leymah Gbowee. The event was cosponsored by The African Women Business Development Foundation panel and The Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago. Participation in that occasion caused me to broaden my perspective on women’s issues to a global platform which also includes men. Upon seeing the diversity efforts outlined in the PRSA Strategic Plan, I would be honored to add working with this organization to help achieve those goals to that growing list.
Position Statement # 2
Prompt: PRSA has become more complex and diverse in recent years. While the Society must become nimbler, we also are cognizant that we must help prepare our members to meet tomorrow’s challenges as leaders at every level. The role of the communications professional will continue to evolve, and PRSA will anticipate future trends, and support our members at every stage of their career. As a member of PRSA’s national board, what do you see as your role in contributing to helping our membership meet tomorrow’s challenges as leaders?
I am on a mission to change lives, and everything I involve myself in has that premise at the forefront. As a passionate educator, devoted scholar, wife, mother, sister and daughter, I focus a great deal of my leadership platform to advocate important causes, committees, and organizations that work to bring parity among professional women and under-served minorities in those arenas as well.
My work has been recognized both locally and nationally and I have 'rubbed elbows' with the first and finest, whether they by PR practitioners such as Jay Porter, President, Edelman or President Obama, whom I had the pleasure of briefly working with during his tenure in Chicago prior to his move to The White House.
Whether speaking in neighborhoods in Hyde Park, IL or International Business Conferences in Hawaii like I did in a short while ago, my goal is always the same --using the classroom to propel students from the classroom to the boardroom.
I must be on the right path due to the recognition I continue to receive. As you saw previously, I have been named Woman of the Year, Woman of Excellence, a Redefine Leadership Honoree, a Change Agent and an Excellent Educator.
My work continues to champion causes and organizations like PRSA who are spurring diversity within their organization--groups who are unafraid to take an ‘off-the-beaten-path’ that allows them to bring a new point of
view to their respective industries. It is the same spirit I plan to bring to PRSA Leadership if granted a nod of approval from this organization in order to do so.
Shanita Baraka Akintonde
Category
At-Large Director