PRSA Kansas City - Inez Kaiser

Student Scholarship Celebrates Local PR Pioneer — Inez Y. Kaiser

The Greater Kansas City Chapter of PRSA is committed to increasing diverse representation and participation among members to support development, diversity education, awareness and inclusion within the industry. As part of that effort, The chapter established the Inez Y. Kaiser Memorial Scholarship Fund in 2021 to celebrate Kaiser's national legacy of leadership, public relations excellence, diversity within the communications field and community volunteerism. Kaiser was a Kansas City public relations pioneer who was the first Black woman in the nation to own a public relations firm with national clients.

Waites, Providence Named Inez Kaiser 2026 Scholarship Recipients

Two college seniors to receive $2,500 scholarship

GKC-PRSA has announced the 12th and 13th recipients of the Inez Kaiser GKC-PRSA Memorial Scholarship. The 2026 winners are Chloe Waites, a senior at Florida A&M University, and Sanya Providence, a senior at North Carolina Central University.

Both are honors students and are actively involved in both their academic program and volunteer activities. Each scholar will receive a $2,500 scholarship to be applied toward upcoming tuition and fees.

“The GKC-PRSA chapter is thrilled to once again honor both Inez Kaiser’s legacy and these students on their achievements. Both students demonstrated outstanding achievements and have bright futures ahead. This has been a meaningful program for the chapter, and we look forward to continuing this legacy,” said Sarah Biles, GKC-PRSA President.

Upon accepting the award, Waites expressed her gratitude.

"Receiving this scholarship award means the world to me," she said. "Inez Y. Kaiser was a trailblazer, a Black pioneer who broke barriers in public relations at a time when the industry wasn’t built with women like her in mind.

"This field has always had a place for us, and during a time in the world like this, her work is more important and impactful than ever. She understood that the most powerful tool we have is our voice, and that effective communicators have always been the ones who shape narratives, shift perspectives, and move the world forward.

"Her legacy is a testament to the fact that barriers are not walls but illusions, erected by systems that underestimated us. The doors she fought to open remind us that our voices belong in every room, at every table, and behind every story worth telling. Carrying her name forward through this award is not just an honor but a charge, and I accept it with gratitude, with purpose, and with the full intention of walking the path she cleared a little further.”

Sanya Providence was named the other recipient. She reflected on the scholarship’s significance.

“Being selected for the Inez Y. Kaiser GKC-PRSA Memorial Scholarship means more than just a moment of excitement for me; it is a reflection of hard work, and the lasting inspiration Inez Y. Kaiser has created for future Public Relations professionals," Providence said. "As the first Black woman to own a Public Relations firm, her legacy motivates me to continue pursuing my goals and growing within the field of PR. I am extremely grateful to have been selected as a recipient, and I will use this achievement as a reminder to continue pushing forward in my career journey."

The scholarship is open to all African American/Black junior or first-semester undergraduate registered seniors enrolled in a public relations or communications program at an accredited college or university nationwide.

The scholarship fund seeks to identify students who exemplify exceptional commitment to public relations, leadership, and volunteerism, all hallmarks of Inez Kaiser’s legacy.

Since 2021, the fund has awarded $37,000 in scholarships.

Applications for the next round of scholarships will open in spring 2027.

Contributions to the scholarship fund can also be made, which helps future public relations professionals. To make a donation online visit this link.

Previous Scholarship Winners

2025

Kaiya Lynch

2024

Robert Hill

2023

Serenity Mixon

Jalen Barlow

Hannah Gant

2022

Sirah Diallo

Ladazhia Taylor

MyAun Boyd

2021

Michael Lewis

Kori Brown

Naomi Madu

Additional Background Information on Inez Kaiser

Inez Y. Kaiser was a Kansas City pioneer, entrepreneur and public relations business owner. She had a national reputation and was the first Black woman in the nation to own a public relations firm with national clients. Her cookbook, “Soul Food Cookery,” which she promoted nationwide, is in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American Art & Culture. In 1966, she was the first Black woman to join the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Inez Kaiser was born in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1918. She graduated from Pittsburg State University, was an educator first but became a businesswoman and public relations professional of many other firsts.
• In 1957, she founded Inez Kaiser & Associates.
• In 1963, she was the first Black woman to establish a national public relations firm with national clients in a Commerce bank building in downtown Kansas City – unheard for a Black woman at the time.
• She soon had an impressive roster of local (e.g., Commerce Bank, J.E Dunn Construction, Hallmark) and national (e.g., Lever Brothers, Burger King, Sears) clients.

It was her passionate commitment to volunteerism that defined her. She established the Jackson County Chapter of the LINKS of which former Vice President Kamala Harris is a prominent national member. She was an advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford to help Black businesswomen but crossed the political aisle when, as her son says, “she voted for Obama.”

Additional Background Information on GKC-PRSA

The Greater Kansas City PRSA chapter is a community of public relations and communications professionals across the Kansas City area, from recent college graduates to leaders of some of the largest firms, agencies and non-profits. Members represent nearly every practice area and professional and academic setting within the public relations field. In addition, GKC-PRSA supports students from across the Midwest who are members of their campus Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapters. The chapter has virtual and in-person events to enhance professional growth. Also, it boasts signature events, such as the annual PRISM Awards gala honoring the year’s best in communications excellence. The GKC-PRSA mission is to be the professional resource and advocate for Kansas City’s communications professionals.

Inez Y. Kaiser

“Whatever the mind believes and perceives, it can achieve.”

(1918-2016)

Inez Y. Kaiser entrepreneur, mentor and community activist was a pioneer of the public relations profession and a woman of many, many “firsts.”

She was born in Kansas City, Kansas and was the first Black woman to open her own public relations firm and serve national clients.

Her mother passed away when she was young and her father suffered from long-term illness. She was deeply religious and loved reading and poetry.

Having earned an education degree, she worked for 20 years for the Kansas City, Missouri school district teaching home economics before entering the public relations profession and won many awards during her career.

Kaiser had a passion for writing and translated this to a newspaper column called “Fashion and Otherwise,” which eventually made it to print in Black newspapers across the country. She was a guest contributor for the Kansas City Star’s “As I See It” opinion column, and her “Hints for Homemakers” column reached 8 million readers in Black newspapers.

Once realizing that some of what she performed as a journalist was considered sound practices in public relations, she decided that a full-time career in that industry was her destiny. She was encouraged by a friend and editor of a newspaper that this was a solid move for her future.

(Kaiser on the Today Show. Photo courtesy Museum of Public Relations)

She founded Inez Kaiser & Associates in 1957. She faced racist building owners in attempting to lease office space in downtown Kansas City, Mo. but also knew that to have a presence downtown was important to the success of her business. She believed in herself and pressed on until she was finally granted space in 1963 from Crosby Kemper. She was the first Black woman to join the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the first Black person to join the Public Relations Society of America. She was also a member of the local chapter, Greater Kansas City PRSA. Kaiser was a consultant to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and advised them on issues related to minority women in business.

Her clients included Jenkins Music Company, 7UP (J. Walter Thompson), Sterling Drug, Burger King, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, Adolf Coors, Lever Brothers and Sears Roebuck & Company. Other local clients were J.E. Dunn, Commerce Bank, Missouri Lottery and Missouri Repertory Theatre.

She fought for Black models and Black females to be represented in advertising, knowing that it was not only wrong to under represent them but also more effective in reaching those key, consumer audiences.

In addition to her work in public relations, Inez Kaiser also played an active role in multiple organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

She wrote “Soul Food Cookery,” a cookbook on Southern-style home cooking, which is still available for sale on Amazon.