PR Society of America, which had a board with 12 women and five men in 2016, switched to a board with nine men and eight women in 2017 after a woman who was elected to the 2017 board was replaced by a man.

Joyce Lofstrom of HIMSS Chicago, major healthcare organization, announced as a member of the 2017 board, was replaced by Kevin Waetke of the National Pork Board, Clive, Iowa, giving men the majority of posts on the board.

Upwards of 80% of Society members are women.

Jane DvorakJane Dvorak

There has been no explanation of the sudden replacement of Lofstrom with Waetke. Emails to chair Jane Dvorak, CEO Joe Truncale and PR staffers Laura Kane and Laurent Lawrence have not been returned.

Woman Had Control of 2016 Board

The O’Dwyer Co. had been asking the women on the board to assert their large majority and initiate many needed reforms including ending the boycott against the O’Dwyer Co. which is not allowed to exhibit its five info products at national conferences and not even allowed to enter the exhibit hall.

120 Wall St. building120 Wall St.

Members are kept in the dark about many things including the signing of a 10 or 15-year lease at 120 Wall St. without placing that decision before the Assembly, a deal worth at least $6 million. No details are available.

If Joyce were to be replaced, it should have been a woman.

Males have the top three paychecks at PRSA: Truncale with $413,602; CFO Phil Bonaventura with $281,832, and VP John Robinson with $$221,724. Those are the 2015 figures. They are probably higher for 2016.

Below is the 2016 Board of PRSA that had 12 women and five men.

Mark McClennan, MSL/Publicis, chair
• Treasurer: Jane E. Dvorak, APR, Fellow PRSA, president, JKD & Company, Inc., Lakewood, Colo.
• Secretary: Marisa Vallbona, APR, Fellow PRSA, president, CIM Incorporated, San Diego.

District representatives
• Director, East Central District: Sonja Popp-Stahly, APR, director, digital media communications, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis.
• Director, Mid-Atlantic District: Janet E. Kacskos, APR, Fellow PRSA, director of communications, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Millersville, Pa.
• Director, Northeast District: JoAnn S. LeSage Nelson, APR, vice president, client services, Pierce Communications, Albany, N.Y.
• Director, Tri-State District: Lea-Ann O’Hare Germinder, APR, Fellow PRSA, president, Germinder & Associates, Inc., New York
• Director, Western District: Todd A. Cooley, APR, principal, The Todd Cooley Company, Santa Ana, Calif.

Director-at-large
• T. Garland Stansell, APR, chief communications officer, Children’s of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.

They join the current Board of Directors returning for 2015, including:

Officers
• Chair: Kathy Barbour, APR, corporate director, public relations and marketing, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami
• Immediate-Past Chair: Joe Cohen, APR, senior vice president of communications, KIND Healthy Snacks, New York.

District representatives
• Director, Midwest District: Brian N. Lee, APR, president, Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media, Madison, Wis.
• Director, North Pacific District: Ronele M. Dotson, APR, president, RKPR Inc., Reno, Nev.
• Director, Sunshine District: Bonnie P. Upright, APR, development director/principal, The Boselli Foundation/Upright Public Relations, LLC, Orange Park, Fla.

Directors-at-large
• Kathleen Donohue Rennie, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, assistant professor/partner, Seton Hall University/The McGraw Group, Union, N.J.
• Tracy A. Schario, APR, communications officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts, White Stone, Va.
• Deborah A. Silverman, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, associate professor of communication, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, N.Y.

2017 Board of Nine Men, Eight Women
• Jane Dvorak, chair
• Anthony D’Angelo, chair-elect
• Mark McClennan, past chair
• Debra Peterson, treasurer
• Andrew McCaskill, Tri-state
• Richard Batyko, East Central
• Michelle Olson, Western
• Jo Ann LeSage Nelson, Northeast
• Samantha Villegas, Mid-Atlantic
• Robert Hastings, at-large
• Mark McClennan, past chair
• Amy Coward, district rep
• Bonnie Upright, district rep
• Don Hale, district rep
• Ronele Dotson, district rep
• Sam Sims, district rep
• Kevin Waetke, district rep