As CEO of Page Society, Rochelle L. Ford, Ph.D., APR leads one of the world’s foremost organizations for senior communications executives. A seasoned educator and former university president, she joins Taking the Lead to discuss why authenticity, stakeholder engagement, and community-building aren’t just leadership ideals, but business imperatives.

Here are excerpts from the full video interview:

Page Society’s purpose is “To create community among the world’s senior communication leaders to help them improve business and society.” What’s your vision for Page?

Page is an amazing organization. My vision is to grow it as a truly global community that delivers the best, most pioneering thinking for our profession. I want to continue building a space where chief communication officers, agency leaders, executive search firms, and educators come together to support each other and contribute to improving both business and society. We do that through an ecosystem of learning, engagement, and leadership development.

And speaking of purpose, what’s yours? What’s Rochelle Ford’s Life Mission?

My life mission is grounded in my faith tradition as a Christ follower. It is about helping people develop in their professional lives, whether that is students or senior communications executives, and building community where people feel like they belong. That sense of belonging is key. When people feel connected, we are all better able to work together to advance society.

Who are your three leadership heroes, and why?

My first leadership hero is my father, Raymond Tillery. He was one of the first African American leaders at AT&T and always stood up for what was right. He created space for others and was authentic wherever he went, whether he was breaking barriers at work or organizing Black families in our school district.

The second is Dr. Barbara Hines, one of my mentors. She is a white woman from Texas who spent her entire career teaching at Howard University. She is the definition of a servant leader. She did not ask others to do anything she was not willing to do herself. Whether it was accreditation reports or helping students access opportunities, she led by example and built community, even when she was the minority in the room.

And the third is Ofield Dukes. He was a dynamic communicator and a bold, authentic leader. He left his memoir for me to publish, which shows how much he believed in legacy. He taught me to speak truth to power and to lead with integrity and purpose.

All three of them showed me that leadership is not about titles. It is about showing up, living your values, and lifting others as you lead.

I was inspired to invite you onto the podcast after seeing you on a Museum of PR panel in February 2025 called “Bending the Arc of History to Social Justice: A Communicator’s Role”. Since then, DEI programs have faced growing backlash. What is your advice to communicators who still want to advance that work?

You have to define what success looks like. A lot of the pushback is really about programs that do not work, do not deliver results, or feel divisive. What people are against are wasteful efforts with no impact.

At Page, we focus on stakeholder engagement. Why do we value diversity? Because our stakeholders are diverse. And if you want to be effective in business, you have to listen to all your stakeholders. That includes employees, customers, government, and community members. Even identical twins are different from each other. So if you want to communicate and innovate effectively, you need to engage across those differences.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just about doing the right thing. They help you retain talent, improve problem-solving, and build stronger relationships. Like any strategy, DEI efforts need to be clearly defined, measured, and refined. If something is not working, you adjust it. But you do not walk away from it. If you are focused on outcomes, DEI can be one of your greatest strengths.

Regardless of one’s politics, I think we can agree that we are living in an age of uncertainty. What’s your best advice to leaders who are leading today, and want to be as effective as possible?

It goes back to being an authentic leader. You have to know who you are, what your values are, and understand the purpose of your organization. When your personal values align with your organization’s values and mission, that is when trust happens. That alignment is what we call corporate character at Page.

If you try to lead in a way that does not reflect who you really are, it will not work. Your team will not trust you. The same is true for organizations. You can say you care about certain things, but if your policies and behavior say otherwise, people will see right through it.

But when you are aligned, and your organization is aligned, you build trust. That trust is the foundation of effective leadership, especially in uncertain times. You build it by being clear, consistent, and truthful. And by proving your values through action.

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Ken Jacobs is the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, which empowers PR and communications leaders and executives to breakthrough results via executive coaching, and helps communications agencies achieve their business development, profitability, and client service goals, via consulting and training. You can find him at www.jacobscomm.com, [email protected] @KensViews, or on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to the Jacobs Consulting and Executive Coaching YouTube channel.