SANTIAGO —LLYC has purchased a 90% stake in Factor C Comunicaciones in Chile. The move will double the firm’s size in the Chilean market, where it has been operating since 2014. The merger will take place over the course of 2021, bringing all operations under one roof using the LLYC brand.

NEW YORK — Signal AI, an AI-powered media intelligence tool, has launched a new offering, called Workspaces. Workspaces enables communications professionals, agencies, and in-house communications and PR leaders to more easily collaborate on their communications plans and reputation management strategies. With Workspaces, clients can: create shared workspaces, where multiple team members and stakeholders can work together by compartmentalizing projects for each client or initiative; understand performance by organizing campaigns into Workspaces and use the AIQ engine to turn data into insight; create private project workspaces to develop a strategy; and co-create and edit newsletters with colleagues in different locations, in real-time, or share updates or previews of newsletters with key decision-makers ahead of a launch.

CHICAGO — The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Chicago has launched the PRSA Chicago Michelle Flowers Diversity Fellowship Program, which is designed to attract, recruit and retain people of color to the practice of public relations and communications.  Through the program, PRSA Chicago will award two individual scholarships in the amount of $3,000 each, to two talented communications students in their junior year who are of African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American, Alaskan Native or Pacific Island ancestry. The award will include a paid summer internship at a Chicago agency affiliated with PRSA Chicago between the Diversity Fellow’s junior and senior year. The $3,000 award is then renewable for the Fellow’s senior year based on attaining a 3.0 GPA.

NEW YORK — A tech startup backed by communicators has launched a tool designed to help employers to assess and improve the diversity & inclusion of their workforces. Mathison’s Equal Hiring Index provides scores on hiring and retention that evaluate specific steps companies must take to boost diverse hires. It's designed to be used on retention. Ingrid Duran, CEO and co-founder of D&P Strategic Solutions, is a member of the board, and Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, is a member of the advisory council.