PRSA Foundation honors Patrice Tanaka
The PRSA Foundation has named public relations luminary, serial entrepreneur and UH Mānoa alumna Patrice Tanaka (Mānoa, BA ’74) as its 2017 Paladin Award Honoree. The award will be presented at the foundation’s upcoming annual Paladin Award Ceremony on Thursday, June 1, at the Helen Mills Event Space in New York City.
The PRSA Foundation’s mission is to attract and support a diverse range of ambitious and promising students to the public relations profession. Each year PRSA honors a member of the public relations profession who has made an indelible impact on the community, particularly in the struggle to open the doors of diversity and inclusion for the next generation of public relations leaders. PRSA’s President Judith Harrison states, “Patrice Tanaka’s career is a tribute to the power of creativity, insight and advocacy and her personal journey is a model and inspiration to all of us at PRSA Foundation. Her work throughout her career embodies the spirit of the “paladin,” an advocate of noble causes in medieval times. We cannot think of a more deserving recipient of our Paladin Award.”
Tanaka is the Co-Founder of three highly respected, award-winning PR Agencies: Patrice Tanaka & Company, CRT/tanaka, and PadillaCRT (now Padilla). Over the course of her career, she has been recognized for producing “great work” (400+ awards, recognition and PR campaigns that have been cited as the “Top 5 Best Campaigns of the Decade”); fostering “great workplaces” (all her companies have been recognized for being among the best places to work in the public relations field); and creating “great communities that work” (through campaigns that have created positive change on important social issues such as domestic violence, women’s literacy and breast cancer) and through her efforts to pioneer agency volunteer and pro bono programs.
Tanaka believes that “purpose” is the key to achieving one’s goals in personal and professional life, and that has led directly to her current work as Chief Joy Officer of Joyful Planet, a consultancy she founded focusing on helping individuals and organizations discover and actively live their purpose.
About the PRSA Foundation
The PRSA Foundation, an independent, 501 (c)(3) charity, supports outreach to diverse students to attract them to PR and make them better prepared to contribute to the profession, and to society, when they enter the workforce through partnerships with leading universities and professional organizations. For more information regarding the PRSA Foundation, its activities and its full board of trustees, visit www.prsafoundation.org.