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Celebrating Women’s History Month, Honoring Your Peers



Lea-Ann Germinder, APR PRSA
Lea-Ann Germinder, APR, Fellow PRSA
The following letter was originally printed in the GKC-PRSA March, 2022 Newsletter. It celebrates the women leaders of GKC-PRSA, our founder’s peers, colleagues and future women leaders.

The GKC-PRSA chapter is celebrating Women’s History Month by honoring our own women leaders. As a past-president of the chapter, I’m proud to have served and stood on the shoulders of those women who came before me to lead as president: Betsy Solberg, Cheryl Ward, Shirley Quastler, Janet Smith, APR, Suze Parker, APR and Beth Paulsen, APR. I’m equally proud to celebrate the women presidents who came after me: Jan Zimmers, APR, Nancy Levin, APR, Linda Morris Shaffer, APR Jacqueline Clark, APR, Fellow, PRSA, Debra Peterson, APR, Renee Robinson, APR, Barb Polking Pruitt, APR, Ashlie Hand, APR, Jody Donohue, APR, Jean Peat, APR, Norita Taylor APR, and our current president Bridget Koan. I continue to learn from our emerging leaders and look forward to having many more women presidents of the chapter to celebrateThis year, we also began the month with a special tribute to Inez Kaiser. Kaiser was a national leader and the first Black woman to join PRSA and GKC-PRSA on March 1, 1966. In memory of her grandmother, her granddaughter Richlynn Kaiser Bailey, Enterprise Change Management Consultant, Toyota Financial Services, has joined PRSA and the GKC-PRSA chapter. She serves on the Inez Kaiser GKC-PRSA Memorial Scholarship Advisory Committee and will be a featured speaker at the chapter’s March 24 event.

In the release announcing this special moment, Kaiser Bailey said: “Serving on the advisory committee and now joining PRSA honors the legacy of my grandmother. More than that it includes promoting the values of confidence and overcoming “imposter syndrome” — reaffirming who you are is enough. The scholarship in her name is about paying it forward and supporting students who are aspiring to make their mark in communications.” 
March 25 is the deadline for the Inez Y. Kaiser GKC-PRSA Memorial Scholarship applications. Two regional and one national scholarship is available. 

The chapter hopes to continue to increase the endowment to help future Inez Kaisers. A donation link is available here.


Lea-Ann Germinder, APR, Fellow PRSAGKC-PRSA VP Student Relations, Inez Y. Kaiser GKC-PRSA Memorial Scholarship Fund Co-Founder and Advisory Committee Chair

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