Sponsored by The LAGRANT Foundation

Two $5,000 awards—one in spring 2021 and one in fall 2021

Intentions of the Fellowship
This fellowship was created in alignment with the mission of The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) to promote diversity and increase the number of ethnic minorities employed within the field of public relations by bringing a public relations, communications, or business school graduate student or recent undergraduate onto the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) team for a paid-work experience.

The student will work closely with the President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations on a mutually agreed-upon research project.

2021 Deadlines
Two fellowships will be offered in 2021. One in Spring and one in Summer/Fall.

  • Spring 2021: Application deadline is Jan. 15, 2021. Fellowship: February – May 2021
  • Fall 2021: Application deadline is August 31, 2021. Fellowship: August – December 2021

Applicant Requirements
To qualify as an eligible fellow, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Must be of African American/Black or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.
  • Must be currently enrolled as a graduate student, a senior graduate student, or a recent graduate within the last year within the field of public relations, communications, or business.
  • The student must have taken and completed a research methods course, earning a grade of “B” or higher.

Required Application Material
To apply, the following materials must be emailed to christopherjuarez@lagrant.com.

  • Personal statement explaining why the applicant deserves the fellowship
  • Resume
  • Three references, including a professor in the major
  • One-page research paper description outlining a relevant topic. This research will be evaluated on:
    • Proposed methodology
    • Research value to the profession
    • How the research advances diversity, equity, and inclusion in the public relations industry
  • Unofficial Transcripts verifying the candidate has taken/completed a research methods course, earning a grade of “B” or higher
  • Candidates must also complete The LAGRANT Foundation’s Recruitment Application, available here.

All application material must be submitted to Christopher Juarez at christopherjuarez@lagrant.com by August 31, 2021 for consideration.

Fellowship Agreement:
The fellowship recipient must agree to the following upon acceptance of the fellowship:

  • In addition to the fellowship, the fellowship recipient must produce a research report (with literature review, method, and analysis) on a mutually-agreed upon research topic intended for practitioners – not an academic paper, though appropriately rigorous. It will be suggested that the paper include a priority topic area of IPR, though other topics will be acceptable providing the paper is successful through one of the standard vetting processes for publication on the IPR website
  • The student will be paid $2,500 throughout the course of the fellowship. An additional $2,500 will be paid by IPR upon acceptance of the paper for publication on the IPR website. The candidate will have a year from the start of the fellowship to complete the paper.
  • The recipient of the fellowship must also create a blog post for TLF and IPR about their research.

About The LAGRANT FOUNDATION (TLF)
The LAGRANT Foundation is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization whose mission is to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations by providing scholarships, career & professional development workshops, mentors, and fellowships to African American/Black, Alaska Native/Native American, Asian American/ Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino undergraduate and graduate students. Our goal is to open the proverbial “door” for minorities by providing the necessary resources and tools not commonly available to many minorities entering the fields of advertising, marketing, and public relations.

About the Institute for Public Relations
The Institute for Public Relations (IPR) is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to research in, on, and for public relations. We investigate the science beneath the art of public relations™. We focus on research that matters to the practice, providing timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use.

Past Winners

Spring 2021 | Kaelan Hicks, University of Southern California

Kaelan Hicks, a graduate student at USC, will conduct research on how inclusive practices and diversity management influence PR firms’ employee perceptions of work culture and team performance. Hicks is pursuing a Master’s in Communication Management at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Northwest University in 2018. He is also a 2020 recipient of The LAGRANT Foundation’s scholarship program.

Fall 2021 | Adebola Adeyemo, Boston University

Adebola Adeyemo is currently earning her master’s degree in public relations at Boston University. She is passionate about creating spaces for inclusion, understanding, and belonging. She sees communication as a way to interact, understand, and be understood.