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Drum Roll: Gold Star Communicator To Diverse Audiences
by H.M. Cauley
January 1, 2007
One of Debra Miller's favorite television characters turned out to be one of her best role models. It wasn't just that Star Trek's Lieutenant O'Hura was a woman and an African-American; she was an expert communicator as well.
“I thought it was ironic that the communications person was the one the captain never went to any new world without,” says Miller with a laugh. “That was a profound statement that had an effect on me, though I didn't realize until later how much of an impact it was. But I knew I wanted to be part of an environment with that sort of diversity.”
Before taking over as the senior director of marketing and communication at Clark Atlanta University in the fall of 2004, Miller had been blazing a trail through new worlds since 1973. Not only was she a woman of color; she was a woman who understood that the world was becoming more diverse and that the means of communication needed to change to be effective. In 1997, she became the first African-American to lead PRSA, the world's largest public relations association, with more than 30,000 professional and student members.
“Particularly in the early '90s, public relations people were still dealing with the one-shot strategy, hoping that all African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians read one media,” says Miller. “I feel really good that I could help people understand what motivates different groups to seek information and what their preferred methods of communication are. I got people thinking about ‘ urban communications’ – that you cannot use traditional methods to reach out to a lot of the inner city population because they're not necessarily consuming traditional media. You really have to reach out to use alternative methods, such as going through their children in the schools, using the community's opinion leaders, being a lot more up close and personal and using more grass-root methods.”
A native of Charleston S.C., Miller took her message of diverse communication to various jobs across the country. Her resume includes stints with Bank of America, NASA, the U.S. Census Bureau and the departments of the Treasury and Agriculture. She's also held teaching and public relations positions at Howard University, Hampton University, University of Portland, Florida International University and Clark Atlanta.
Today, in addition to forming a fiveyear integrated, strategic marketing and communications plan for Clark Atlanta, the 53-year-old Miller is also a managing partner of Global Communication Strategists, Inc., an Atlanta-based firm that provides integrated marketing communications and research services to a variety of clients, including Wal-Mart, Delta Air lines, Levi- Strauss, Haverty's, Cingular Wireless, Capital One Financial Service and Shell Oil.
As a pioneer and a role model, Miller opened the doors for many practitioners of color, a feat she's particularly proud to have accomplished. “There were doors that needed to be kicked open and I'm glad I could help do it,” she says. “I'm excited that we're now at the point where we understand and appreciate having diverse and multi-generational work teams. I'm also excited that PR people are now at the table and leading companies.”
Miller's accomplishments as a public relations strategist, counselor, researcher, educator and advocate earned her the 2006 Gold Anvil Award from the national Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in November. The award is the society's highest honor and is presented to the public relations professional whose accomplishments have advanced and improved the profession. She is only the fourth woman and the first woman of color to receive this honor. Miller called the Gold Anvil award “absolutely one of the pinnacles of my career.”
“Dr. Miller is an inspiring example of what determination, passion and leadership can achieve, said PRSA Chair Cheryl I. Procter-Rogers.
Adding to her professional accolades, Miller received the 2006 D. Parke Gibson Pioneer Award for outstanding leadership in multicultural communications from the Multicultural Communications Professional Interest Section PRSA, a group that Miller chaired in 1997. And she was the first African-American to do so.
“This award is a double honor for me, having been president of PRSA,” says Miller. “I didn't think I'd be considered since there were several others in the queue before me who had also made significant contributions, but folks kept telling me I needed to apply.”
Selecting Miller for the distinction was an easy decision. “Dr. Miller is one of the most prominent public relations professionals in the industry,” said Procter-Rogers. “As the first woman of color and the first African- American to be elected chair of PRSA, she has been a role model, mentor and trailblazer for countless PR professionals, including myself.”
Whether in the boardroom or classroom, Miller keeps the Star Trek model in mind. “If we believe that public relations is always for the public good then, in the end, that's what we're there for – to be allies for good, not to conquer,” she says.
Photography by Joseph Wong
