KANSAS CITY, MO, and NEW YORK (June 16, 2026) — Public relations practitioner-scholar Lea-Ann Germinder, PhD, APR, Fellow PRSA, has introduced AELHA™, an original model for the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence. AELHA (the AI-Ethics Literacy Model for Human Advocacy, pronounced ah-LEE-ha) holds that adopting AI responsibly requires both AI literacy and ethics literacy together, expressed as AI Literacy + Ethics Literacy = Human Advocacy.
First developed as the original contribution of Germinder’s doctoral research, the model is now being released as AI adoption accelerates rapidly for both the public relations profession and future studies and applications in other industry sectors. In releasing it, Germinder said,
“I have always embraced technology throughout my career, but the rapid evolution and adoption of generative AI is without precedent. For decades, our profession has held that we owe a duty not only to the organizations we serve, but to the public. The rapid pace of the AI era raises the stakes of that duty and of articulating the values we hold dear. I hope the AELHA model, in both its academic and commercial iterations, leads to more open discussion of advocating for the role of the human, the heart of responsible AI.”
Germinder developed the original AELHA formula during her doctoral studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where her dissertation, “Constructing Responsible AI in Public Relations: Perspectives on Ethical Adoption from Generative AI to Agentic Systems”, examined the construction of responsible AI in public relations. The framework was developed using constructivist grounded theory and draws on three established traditions in communication and ethics scholarship, namely diffusion of innovation, deontological ethics, and responsible advocacy.
In commenting about Germinder’s dissertation, Dr. Fritz Cropp, Dissertation Committee Chair and Associate Dean for Global Programs at the Missouri School of Journalism, said,
“Lea-Ann Germinder’s work makes an original contribution to how our field understands responsible AI. AELHA is carefully grounded in established theory and developed through rigorous research, and it offers a clear, usable way to think about adopting AI without losing sight of human judgment”.
According to AELHA, technical fluency and ethical judgment, too often developed separately, must advance together. “Adopting AI by embracing the technical literacy without consideration for ethical literacy is also how organizations lose trust”, Germinder said. “You need both, resulting in an extension beyond publics to human advocacy. The model keeps people, the individual and the organization, the people within it, at the center rather than the algorithm”.
The model maps responsible AI across three interdependent dimensions: the individual practitioner, the organization, and the wider society, so leaders can identify where their own readiness and governance gaps lie. Germinder describes human advocacy as a synthesizing commitment: the duty communication professionals owe not only to the organizations they serve and their publics, but also to people as a whole in an era when automated decisions carry human consequences.
“Dr. Germinder has made an immense contribution to the scholarship and contemporary practice of public relations”, said Dean Kruckeberg, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA. Dr. Kruckeberg, a public relations professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said Dr. Germinder’s research, and especially her AELHA model, will help provide insights and a better understanding of the impact of artificial intelligence on public relations.
Germinder brings a practitioner-scholar’s vantage point to the framework. She is the founder and president of Germinder & Associates, Inc., a strategic communications firm marking 28 years in practice, and the editor and publisher of GoodNewsForPets.com. Her decades-long career includes national honors such as the Silver Anvil Award of Excellence and campaigns that have generated hundreds of millions of media impressions. A former national director of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and past PRSA chapter president in New York and Greater Kansas City, she remains active in PRSA as an awards judge and mentor. She also currently serves as U.S. representative for the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) AI chapter.
Germinder is a veteran speaker who has lectured both domestically and globally. She is currently scheduling speaking engagements about the AELHA model for public relations organizations and at future conferences. Starting July 1, Germinder & Associates, Inc. will also apply AELHA in client engagements across the veterinary and animal health sectors, where it is best known, as well as in human health, consumer, and other industries.
“Establishing a theoretical framework is important, but now my firm and I will also be able to implement AELHA into practice backed by my decades of experience. I welcome this next challenge”, said Germinder.
The AELHA model and more details are available at www.germinder.com.
About Germinder & Associates, Inc.
Germinder & Associates, Inc. is a strategic communications firm founded in 1998. The firm has built brands, launched products, and protected reputations across the veterinary, animal health, human health, and several consumer sectors. The firm has published GoodNewsForPets.com, an independent resource for pet owners and professionals since 2000. Led by Founder and President Lea-Ann Germinder, PhD, APR, Fellow PRSA, the firm now pairs decades of senior communications practice with doctoral-level expertise in responsible AI through its AELHA model.
Source: Germinder, L. (2026). Constructing responsible AI in public relations: Perspectives on ethical adoption from generative AI to agentic systems [Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri].
