# Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

> The Public Relations Society of America is a member-funded professional association that turns an unusually slippery occupation into a community with shared language, training, credentials, awards and an ethics code. Founded in 1947 and headquartered in New York, PRSA serves communications practitioners and students through a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters in the United States and several countries in the Americas.

- **Founded:** 1947
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Founders:** American Council on Public Relations (Founding predecessor organization), National Association of Public Relations Counsel (Founding predecessor organization)
- **Products:** Professional membership, PRSA Code of Ethics, Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), PRSSA, ICON and specialist conferences
- **Notable:** Named 2024 Global Public Relations Association of the Year by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management., Built a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters across the United States and several countries in the Americas., Established the APR credential in 1964 and PRSSA in 1967.

## Products & services

- **Professional membership** — National membership with learning resources, publications, communities, a directory, event discounts and eligibility for chapters and interest sections.
- **PRSA Code of Ethics** — An aspirational, educational code organized around advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness.
- **Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)** — A professional credential assessing strategic communications knowledge, experience and judgment, administered through the Universal Accreditation Board.
- **PRSSA** — The student society, with campus chapters, career preparation, leadership experience and a bridge into professional membership.
- **ICON and specialist conferences** — Annual national and subject-focused gatherings combining instruction, peer exchange, speakers and professional recognition.
- **Anvil Awards** — Long-running competitions recognizing campaigns, tactics and individual contributions across public relations.
- **Strategies & Tactics and PRsay** — A monthly publication and an online editorial platform covering practice, careers, research and communications trends.

## Achievements

- Named 2024 Global Public Relations Association of the Year by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management.
- Built a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters across the United States and several countries in the Americas.
- Established the APR credential in 1964 and PRSSA in 1967.
- Created one of the profession’s longest-running recognition programs through the Anvil Awards.
- Ran a yearlong crowdsourcing campaign before adopting a modern definition of public relations in 2012.
- Shifted its ethics program in 2000 from largely ineffective enforcement to education, guidance and voluntary compliance.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — PRSA’s Ethics Month programming focused on accountability, human advocacy and trust as agentic AI enters communications work.
- **2026-05** — FutureCon 2026 centered on generative search, misinformation, AI governance and internal adoption, paired with the 82nd Anvil Awards ceremony.
- **2025-10** — PRSA partnered with the American Cancer Society and committed 10% of October new-member fees to research, services and advocacy.
- **2025-09** — PRSA added a chief operating officer and a vice president of business development and alliances to its leadership team.
- **2025-03** — Matthew Marcial became CEO after more than 15 years in trade and professional associations.

## Links

- Website: https://www.prsa.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prsa/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PRSA
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prsanational
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRSANational/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/public-relations-society-of-america-prsa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-23