NEW YORK — Mission North has expanded its Foster the Future initiative for 2025, adding four new agency partners and increasing total fellowship funding to $92,500. Now open to all BIPOC students, the program aims to address disparities in male and gender-diverse representation in public relations. The eight participating agencies — Mission North, Agean Public Relations, Greenough Communications, Hermes PR, V2 Communication, The Bliss Group, LaunchSquad and The Key PR — will offer scholarships, stipends, and paid internships, with some introducing in-person opportunities for the first time. Since its launch in 2022, the initiative has provided over $250,000 in financial support to aspiring PR professionals.

NEW YORK — PRophet has introduced a new feature that enables users to discover and pitch directly to social media influencers and journalists within a single workflow. This integrates PRophet’s AI-powered platform with its influencermarketing.ai capabilities, allowing PR and communications professionals to engage both earned media and influencer marketing in a seamless process.

NEW YORK— Dstillery has appointed Jim Weiss, founder and chairman of Real Chemistry, to its board of directors. Weiss, known for scaling Real Chemistry into a $600 million enterprise, brings expertise in leveraging data and technology for transformative marketing strategies. His appointment is expected to bolster Dstillery’s innovation in privacy-safe AI ad targeting.

NEW YORK — Ruder Finn has acquired Big Sky Communications, a San Jose-based customer marketing agency, strengthening its expertise in B2B storytelling and client advocacy. The acquisition adds a team of over 40 marketing professionals specializing in customer engagement for clients such as J.P. Morgan Payments, F5, and Snowflake.

WASHINGTON — JPA Health has launched an Investor Relations practice to support pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device clients in engaging with IR audiences. The expansion aligns with JPA’s expertise in data analytics, public relations, and medical communications. Sarah McCabe will lead the IR practice, reporting to Colleen Carter, head of life sciences. McCabe brings extensive experience advising life sciences companies across all stages of development.

NEW YORK — The Diversity Action Alliance (DAA) has announced its 2025 Board of Directors, welcoming new members from across the communications industry. The new appointments align with DAA’s mission to drive meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion progress within the field.

New board members include:

  • Dr. Rochelle Ford, CEO, Page

  • Diana Littman, CEO, MSL Group

  • Barby K. Siegel, Global CEO, Zeno Group

Returning board members include:

  • Soon Mee Kim, DAA Board Chair, Chief DEI Officer, Omnicom CCN

  • Troy Blackwell, Jr., Deputy Chief Communications Officer, U.S. Department of Commerce

  • Kim Sample, CEO, PR Council

  • Tina McCorkindale, CEO, Institute for Public Relations

SAN FRANCISCO — Bospar is marking its 10th anniversary with the release of Game Face, a children's book introducing kids to the fundamentals of public relations. Written by Bospar co-founder Curtis Sparrer, the book uses an adventurous storyline to demystify PR, addressing the profession’s relative invisibility despite its widespread impact. Game Face will be available on Amazon starting April 2 in celebration of Public Relations Month.