SDSU Students Attend Leadership Assembly

PR majors Cambell Kirk and Lily Razzano had the opportunity to represent the SDSU Public Relations Student Society of America chapter at the 2025 PRSSA Leadership Assembly.

Our trip last week to Charlotte, North Carolina for the PRSSA Leadership Assembly was spent exchanging ideas with chapter leaders, learning from industry professionals about leadership, and electing the 2025-2026 PRSSA International Committee. 

We felt inspired as we sat in rooms filled with aspiring public relations professionals from all around the world. With representation from our home state of California, to Wisconsin all the way to Buenos Aires, we were surrounded by the future generation of leaders, each with their own ideas, experiences and knowledge to share. 

While we left every presentation with newfound knowledge, there was one takeaway that significantly stuck with us.

Ray Day, chairman for PRSA, left us future leaders with this simple sentiment: Those who tell the stories rule the world. This statement captures the essence of what we believe to be the true heart of this profession.

As future public relations professionals, we are learning how to tell the stories that shape how brands, organizations, and people are seen by the public. Whether we are creating a campaign, or building a brand image, the stories we tell can make or break a perception. The stories we tell have the power to move people, to change minds, and ultimately, to change the world. 

Another highlight of the trip were the opportunities we had to talk to other chapter leaders about what being a leader meant to them. How do you keep your chapter engaged? What are ways to improve how we lead? 

Through our conversations, we found that regardless of chapter size, location, or structure, the core value of effective leadership is the same: passion. Passion to keep learning, passion to share, passion to grow. Though each PRSSA chapter operates differently, our shared passion for the future of public relations makes us one and the same. 

Since returning from the Leadership Assembly, we are excited to bring these lessons and ideas back to SDSU to continue growing our community of passionate, driven future public relations professionals.