Class of 2021 Broom Student Fellows

Last year’s inaugural Broom Student Fellows were nothing short of women full of grit and a love for PR.

This year, we took the program beyond San Diego State University and expanded to Hampton University. Given that SDSU is a federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institution and Hampton University is a historically Black college and university, this connection is a natural progression in the Broom Center’s work to help diversify the PR profession.

Our class of 2021 Broom Student Fellows are:

• Kiara Davis from Hampton University
• Taylor Fredericks from SDSU
• Zaire Hagans-Jackson from Hampton University
• Brittany Lam from SDSU
• Daniella Rodiles from SDSU
• Iyana Woodard from Hampton University

We consider this program a mix of PR finishing school, networking and professional development.

The fellows are competitively chosen to be a “Broomie,” as they call themselves.

Once the Broomie cohort is formed, we work with them to find out where they would like to grow. We invest in them as professionals by supporting membership in the Public Relations Student Society of America and their journey in earning the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations.

Beyond that, we help them in forging a strong network of C Suite PR professionals to champion the fellows.

The class of 2021 Broomies will:

• Receive individualized mentoring from the top leadership of Allison+Partners, an award-winning global marketing and communications agency. Allison+Partners was named one of America’s Best PR Agencies 2021 by Forbes.
  
  
• Learn about building a strong personal brand from Brittney Oliver, founder of Lemons 2 Lemonade Mixers. Forbes lists Oliver as one of “Nine Black Women Leaders Dedicated to Empowering Others.”
  
  
• Participate in tailored career development sessions with Toni Purvis of Paradigm One LLC. Purvis teaches young professionals how to increase their confidence, elevate their brand, polish their presence and foster authentic professional relationships to accelerate their career.
  
  
• Develop authentic and professional voices by practicing in speaking confidently with Jasmine Romaine of JazzCellence, LLC. Romaine is the author of Speak to Profit which teaches how to speak with confidence.
  
  
• Hone leadership skills through engagement with two Navy public affairs officers. As two of the most respected senior PAOs in the Navy, Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, APR+M and Cmdr. Richlyn Ivey came to military service from different paths and rose through the ranks while remaining authentic and engaged leaders.
  
  
• Lean in to diversity initiatives with help from Dr. Aerial Ellis, president of the PRSA Foundation. A cornerstone of the foundation’s efforts involve the Diversity Action Alliance, a coalition of PR and communications organizations dedicated to improving DE&I within the profession.

These women are fierce, and they are getting ready.

We can’t wait to see what happens as we stoke that fire even more through the Broom Student Fellow program.

Support the professional development of the Broom Student Fellows and more students who benefit from Broom Initiative projects by donating to the Broom Center today.