PRSA Foundation Announces 2025 Fellowship Recipients in Partnership with Eight Public Relations and Communications Agencies

Now in its fourth year, the fellowship program welcomes new partner agencies and will award a record value of scholarships and stipends to aspiring industry professionals

NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 – Today, the PRSA Foundation announced the 2025 class of its annual fellowship program. The collaborative program creates pathways for underrepresented students pursuing careers in PR and communications by offering opportunities to gain valuable work experience while offsetting some of the financial burdens of tuition and other education expenses.

Launched in 2022, the fellowship program is expanding its impact with the support of eight leading PR and communications agencies, including four new partners this year. In addition to a paid internship at each participating agency, a total of $92,500 in scholarships and stipends will be awarded to fellows through the PRSA Foundation, establishing a new record and exceeding last year’s award value by more than $10,000. To date, $254,500 has been awarded to 19 students.

This year’s fellowship recipients are:

• AGEAN Public Relations Fellowship: Ava Maule, University of Florida
• Bliss-Baker Fellowship: Isabelle Flores, University of Texas at Austin

• Greenough Communications Fellowship: Jase Picanso, Western Washington University
• HermesPR Fellowship: Ujunwa Ike, William Paterson University
• LaunchSquad Fellowship: Lucy Wu, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Mission North The Future Is… Fellowship: Riva Surana, Arizona State University
• The Key PR Fellowship: Clarissa Holguin, University of Houston
• V2 Communications Fellowship: Victoria Kalala, Emerson College

The fellowship recipients will complete a five-to-eight-week paid internship this summer, using a curriculum developed by Mission North following the launch of its The Future Is… Fellowship in 2022. The fellowship program is conceived by and funded through Mission North’s cross-industry diversity initiative that aims to empower the next generation of PR and communications professionals.

“On behalf of the PRSA Foundation, I want to congratulate the recipients who received fellowships this year,” said Thomas Bennett, president of the PRSA Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “Their fellowships with these agencies will give them practical and hands-on experience as they pursue a full-time role post college in the PR and communications profession. The PRSA Foundation also wants to thank all our agency partners for having these programs and providing opportunities for students as we work towards making our PR and communications profession more diverse and inclusive.”

The fellowship recipients will be recognized with other PRSA Foundation scholarship and grant recipients at the PRSSA awards ceremony at ICON 2025 in Washington, D.C.

The PRSA Foundation believes in building a more progressive future for the next generation. Plans to create more access and opportunity with long-term, expanded initiatives for students of color and other underrepresented communities will continue throughout 2025. 

About The PRSA Foundation 
The PRSA Foundation is an independent, 501 (c) (3) charitable organization that is committed to promoting diversity among public relations professionals and companies so that they can best serve the public good and address the needs of a diverse world. www.prsafoundation.org 

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