New York counselor Mike Paul will begin a two-day fast Feb. 12 to draw attention to what he sees as a lack of diversity among large PR firms, ad agencies and corporate communications departments.
He’s tired of “all the lip service” paid to the issue, believing it’s a “time of action.”
Paul told O’Dwyer’s that he’s increasingly approached by well qualified minority executives who can’t get a shot at a job in the communications sector.
His fast is aimed at highlighting the lack of people of color in top positions, beginning at the senior VP level at PR firms.
Paul’s not overly impressed by firms that establish internship programs for non-whites. To him, those are dead-end jobs as the young staffer departs in two or three years because there are “no senior-level people who look like them.”
Paul wants firms to “open their books” and disclose the number of non-white people in the executive ranks. He wants major firms to “hire dozens of executives of color” over the next year or two.
Before opening Reputation Doctor LLC, Paul did stints at MCI Communications, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Burson-Marsteller.
AB InBev has hired Donna Lorenson as chief communications officer and elevated the PR function to the senior leadership structure in the aftermath of the Bud Light marketing disaster.
Tunheim handled the Minnesota USA World Expo bid committee, which on June 21 congratulated Serbia for landing the 2027 event.
United Minds, management consultancy, has launched Myriant, a business resiliency offering to help clients deal with the challenges during this era of misinformation, polarization and geopolitical upheaval. 
ImageShield, which guards against online image abuse, is looking for a communications pro to handle its PR and marketing campaigns.
Who knew that there is a real paper company, Pennsylvania Paper & Supply, inside the iconic building seen at the opening of every episode of “The Office?” 
Have a comment? Send it to 
No comments have been submitted for this story yet.