January 4, 2020

By Tribune Staff

Jacqueline Clark, APR, Fellow PRSA, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was elected to the national Board of Directors of the Public Relations Society of America at its recent Leadership Assembly in San Diego. Her term two-year term as the Midwest District representative on the board began January 1, 2020. Clark is immediate past vice president of the Lee’s Summit R-VII School District Board of Education as well as a member of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce board of directors and co-chair of the University of Missouri Flagship Council.

“Serving in this capacity is a wonderful opportunity to advance the public relations profession both in the Midwest and across the United States,” Clark said. “PRSA is the nation’s leading professional organization serving the communications community, with more than 30,000 professional and student members.”

PRSA is collectively represented in all 50 states by more than 110 chapters and 14 Professional Interest Sections, and on nearly 375 college and university campuses through its student organization, the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).

Clark has been a long-time public relations professional, having joined the organization nearly 30 years ago. She earned her Accreditation in Public Relations in 2002. In 2010, she was inducted into PRSA’s prestigious College of Fellows, considered the “gold standard” of public relations and comprised of approximately 350 public relations professionals who have made significant contributions to the profession. Clark also has been a leader in the Greater Kansas City chapter, including service as chair of its ethics and awards committees, a student mentor and president.

Debra Peterson, 2019 PRSA Board of Directors Chair, said, “Jackie’s broad experience in the public relations profession, combined with her extensive volunteer service, will benefit PRSA. I look forward to working with her on the national board to fulfill PRSA’s mission of advancing the profession and the professional.”

With Clark’s election, 2020 marks the first time two Kansas City-area residents have served on PRSA’s national board at the same time. Peterson, an Overland Park, Kansas, resident, is the first national chair of PRSA from the Kansas City area. She continues to serve on the national board in 2020 as immediate past chair.

“Part of my board work includes service as the liaison to the PRSA College of Fellows and as one of two co-liaisons to the Sections Council,” Clark added. “I am excited to work with our nation’s top public relations professionals to lead the organization,” Clark said.

Clark’s successful career spans four decades with category leading international and domestic corporations as well as a legal enterprise and in Missouri State government. She has earned national, state and local recognition for her work in government relations, public affairs and communications as well as her volunteer service.