In this episode of "A Quick Minute with Gwen," our President Gwen McKinney takes a minute to announce the launch of McKPR's most recent eBook featuring Karen Narasaki. Karen Narasaki is the former president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center, one of the nation's premier civil rights advocacy... Read More

Calling all writers! We're excited to announce the launch of our Voice Matters Guest Bloggers Series. McKinney & Associates was established in 1990 with a commitment to social justice that has prevailed for more than 20 years. From the beginning, McKinney has skillfully practiced public relations with a conscience for local,... Read More

Bob Herbert is an award-winning columnist who wrote about politics, urban affairs and social trends for the New York Times for nearly two decades. He is the author of "Promises Betrayed: Waking Up from the American Dream". In this video, Bob Herbert speaks at the Voice Matters Book Launch Party from... Read More

Video: A Quick Minute with Gwen on eBooks! In this episode of "A Quick Minute with Gwen," our President Gwen McKinney takes a minute to discuss the continuation of our book, Voice Matters: An Anthology of Public Relations with a Conscience via our new eBook series. Filmmaker Larry Adelman offers a powerful... Read More

Earlier this month friends from across the country gathered at Busboys & Poets to celebrate the launch of our new book, Voice Matters. On March 18, McKinney & Associates garnered national attention for an article in the Washington Post. PR firm for social causes tells its story with a book By Danielle... Read More

In 2005, Andy Shallal opened Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. Andy's mission was to have a place for people of different incomes, races and identities to come together and exchange ideas about social and political issues. He now runs five restaurants throughout the D.C. Metropolitan area, honoring the legacy... Read More

McKinney & Associates was thrilled to welcome friends from across the country who gathered recently at Washington’s popular Busboys & Poets to celebrate the launch of our new book, Voice Matters. The collection of non-fiction essays captures the essence of our firm's mission — a commitment to public relations with... Read More

Karen Narasaki is president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center, one of the nation’s premiere civil rights advocacy organizations advancing the human and civil rights of Asian Americans. Karen is a national authority on immigration and civil rights, serving as vice chairwoman of the Leadership Conference on Civil... Read More

Diane McKinney-Whetstone is an award-winning author and Gwen McKinney’s sister. She offers a warm and evocative introduction into how McKinney’s personal character and history have shaped the trajectory of McKinney & Associates. As the author of the introduction for Voice Matters, Whetstone writes of McKinney’s passion for the firm’s core... Read More

In the foreword of Voice Matters, Bob Herbert, an award-winning former New York Times columnist, describes the deepening abyss of income inequality in America that has transformed the American Dream into a nightmare. He writes movingly of the disappearance of manufacturing jobs and the erosion of the middle class in... Read More

Voice Matters’ eighth chapter brings a dialogue between McKinney Associates' Pamela Taylor and Tamara Braunstein (pictured) on the salience and value of social networking in the world of public relations and advocacy. The two consider the impact social media could have made on past campaigns, and the continuing value of... Read More

Health disparities play a significant role in keeping our health care system ranked among the lowest of developed states. In the eleventh chapter of Voice Matters, Larry Adelman writes passionately about the challenges of health equity in the world’s richest nation. Spelling out common myths about health and health equity,... Read More

In the world of PR, tragedy can strike at any moment. During those times, it is critical for leaders to take charge and at times defend against false accusations that serve to damage the reputations of their organizations. In the tenth chapter of Voice Matters, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local... Read More

Candice Francis’ Voice Matters essay is a thoughtful exploration of the ways in which historic and persistent racial bias discourages women of color from valuing their own well-being. The book’s brief sixth chapter is both elegant and provocative. Francis is a gifted communicator with expertise in many communications disciplines. Her consulting... Read More

As the author of the seventh Voice Matters chapter, Michele Renée Brown evokes warmth and humor in describing the details of running a grassroots field operation on a tight budget and tighter deadlines. Brown is the founder of WordPlay Consulting, a boutique consulting firm based in Oakland, California, specializing in... Read More

As McKinney & Associates’ Art Director, Richard Montgomery writes in the fifth chapter of Voice Matters about the creative and collaborative process from an artist’s perspective, from campaign conception to execution. A long-time McKinney partner tasked with bringing messages to visual life, Montgomery also shares his tips for establishing winning... Read More

With the launch of our new book quickly approaching, our office has been buzzing with literary anticipation. But for those who have to wait until Thursday to get their hands on Voice Matters, we found five inspiring books to get you through the week and beyond. Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women... Read More

Voice Matters: A Conversation with Andy Shallal Andy Shallal moved to the U.S. from Iraq when he was 11 years old. After running several other restaurants and closing them, in 2005 he opened Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. Andy's mission for this restaurant was to have a gathering place for... Read More

In the third chapter of Voices Matter, CNN Top 10 Hero Susan Burton writes a deeply personal and honest account of how she reversed her personal trajectory from sex abuse victim, drug dependency and prison to transform her life and that of other formerly incarcerated women. The founder and director... Read More

Michelle Alexander, an attorney, author and criminal justice advocate, wrote the third chapter of Voice Matters. The essay is a sharply drawn and incisive condemnation of our criminal justice system, and the racial and class disparities that lurk at the core. “By the millions, people are arrested and marched into courtrooms... Read More

Diann Rust-Tierney has been one of the nation’s foremost advocates against the death penalty. In the second chapter of Voices Matter, she shares her reflections on the campaign to save Gary Graham from the electric chair. Although Graham was executed, she cites the case as a turning point in the... Read More

This blog post is part of series introducing McKinney & Associates’ new book Voice Matters: An Anthology of Public Relations with a Conscience. For the next two weeks, we’ll profile the book’s contributors, giving readers an inside glimpse into the lives of voices that matter. In the first chapter of Voice... Read More

We are less than 9 days away from the official launch party for Voice Matters: An Anthology of Public Relations with a Conscience.  McKinney & Associates wanted to mark the 20th Anniversary of its founding with more than a party. So we wrote the book on PR for Progress. Part essay, part memoir,... Read More

Voice Matters is an anthology of non-fiction essays. Noted contributors like former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, CNN Top 10 Hero Susan Burton and award-winning filmmaker Larry Adelman illustrate how McKinney & Associates enlivens public relations with a conscience, amplifying the voices of those who are too rarely heard.  Discovering... Read More