The Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America
( OCPRSA ) elected Charla Batey, MBA, APR as its 2020 president, the first African-American
president in the organization’s history.
A chapter of PRSA, the largest national association
of public relations professionals, OCPRSA creates engaging events, networking
opportunities and professional development for members and those in the public relations
field.
Batey of Cox Communications first joined OCPRSA in 2011. She previously served as an
OCPRSA Diversity Committee member, then became chapter Diversity Chair, a member of
the National PRSA Diversity Committee, PROTOS Chair, then OCPRSA Secretary and
Treasurer.
In 2019, Batey successfully completed the Examination for Accreditation in
Public Relations , entitling her to use the APR professional designation. The announcement
was made by the Universal Accreditation Board, a consortium of nine professional
communication organizations that directs this competency certification program.
“I’m truly excited about what this this board of directors has in store for the Orange County
chapter in 2020. Joining board veterans, Joining board veterans, we have added new
members with fresh ideas and rich professional backgrounds ,” Batey said. ”I’m honored to
lead this group of my peers and continue to deliver exceptional programming, networking
and professional development opportunities to our membership.”
Along with Batey, the 2020 executive board includes:
President-elect: Justine Houston-Brown of Rocket Science
Treasurer: Patty Conover of Bank of America
Secretary: Brittney Holbrook of AutoGravity
Immediate past president: Ted Nguyen, MPA of Orange County Transportation
Authority
Joining the 2020 leadership team are the Directors-at-Large:
James Alley, Orange County Business Council
Elena Bosch, HSF Affiliates LLC | Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Angela Burrell, APR, Independent Practitioner
Erik Falls, APR, Coast Community College District
Ken Hagihara, APR, Cal State University Fullerton
Kara Kessener, Rocket Science
Victoria Lim, Experian
Stephanie Thara Metzinger, Western Growers
Matthew Nixon, Think Together
Janna Parris, University of California at Irvine
Teri Sawyer, T&Co. Public Relations
Annie Sullivan, Westbound Communications
Brenda Velasco, Biola University
Liz Wilkins, IMW Agency
For the 10th time in the chapter’s history, PRSA honored OCPRSA with the National
Diversity & Inclusion Award at the 2019 International Conference in San Diego last month.
To learn more please visit http://www.ocprsa.org
About OC PRSA
The Orange County chapter of PRSA was formed in 1963 with a handful of members and
has become one of the largest chapters in California. OCPRSA is a 501(c)6 nonprofit
organization with members representing corporate, government, nonprofit and
educational organizations in Orange County.
About the Public Relations Society of America
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is the nation’s largest professional
organization serving the communications community with a mission to “make
communications professionals smarter, better prepared and more connected through all
stages of their career.”
Photo Credit: OCPRSA and Charla Batey
Submitted By:
Victoria Lim, Communications Chair
