PRSA Appoints Patricia “Reace” Alvarenga Smith, APR, and Jeff Wilson, APR, as Senior Counsel to the 2026 Board of Directors

NEW YORK (Jan. 15, 2026) - PRSA, the nation's leading professional organization serving the communications community, today announced that Patricia "Reace" Alvarenga Smith, APR, and Jeff Wilson, APR, have been appointed as Senior Counsel, nonvoting members of the 2026 PRSA Board of Directors.

The appointments were made by Heide Harrell, M.A., APR, 2026 PRSA Chair, and were approved by the PRSA Board.

"Reace and Jeff are respected, trusted leaders in our profession, and their perspectives will be a tremendous asset to both the Board and PRSA as a whole," said Harrell. "They bring decades of experience, a deep commitment to ethical, strategic communications, and a strong understanding of what our members need today and in the future. Their counsel will help strengthen our decision-making and support PRSA's continued growth and relevance."

Patricia "Reace" Alvarenga Smith, APR

Patricia "Reace" Alvarenga Smith has been a PRSA member since 1998, following her involvement in PRSSA. She currently serves as associate vice president, communications & PR at AT&T, where she leads strategic communications initiatives for the organization.

Prior to joining AT&T, Smith held roles of increasing responsibility at LIBERTY Steel, Republic National Distributing Company, Dean Foods, Dex Media, and Texas Health Resources, building a career spanning corporate communications, public relations and stakeholder engagement.

Smith's PRSA leadership includes serving as president of PRSA Dallas (2010), chair of the chapter's APR Committee (2012), chair of the Southwest District (2018), and as an Executive Committee member of PRSA's Corporate Communications Professional Interest Section since 2019. She also served on the PRSA Board of Directors Nominating Committee in 2019 as well as three years on the National Board.

Beyond PRSA, Smith serves on the Board of the City of Grand Prairie Library and has volunteered with Soroptimist International (Grand Prairie chapter), Junior League of Arlington, the University of Texas at Arlington Alumni Association, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group. She earned a bachelor's degree in communications from The University of Texas at Arlington.

Jeff Wilson, APR

With more than 25 years of experience in communications, Jeff Wilson, APR, serves as senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Advisory Group at Padilla, leading the agency's Social Impact Consultancy. He also leads Padilla's internal inclusion and belonging initiatives and corporate social responsibility program.

Throughout his career, Wilson has earned some of the profession's highest honors, including a PRSA Silver Anvil, PRSA Bronze Anvil, and other industry-related awards.

Wilson has been actively involved in PRSA for more than 20 years, serving as President of PRSA Richmond (2012), President of the Richmond Public Relations Foundation (2014-2015), and on the PRSA National Board for two years (2020-2021). A strong advocate for mentoring and education, he has served as an adjunct communications professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Union University, and the University of South Carolina.

His community leadership includes current service as Board chair of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, and prior roles as co-chair of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame Advisory Committee and chair of the Virginia Mentoring Partnership (now MENTOR Virginia). Wilson earned a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of South Carolina.

Senior Counsel is a nonvoting position on PRSA's 19-member Board of Directors and serves a one-year term.

About PRSA

PRSA is the leading professional organization serving the communications community through a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters in the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. Guided by its Code of Ethics, PRSA empowers its members to succeed at every stage of their careers through a wide breadth of premium professional development programs, exclusive networking events and leadership opportunities. Signature events include the Anvil Awards and ICON, the premier annual gathering for communications professionals and students. For more information, visit www.prsa.org.

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Media Contact:
Linda Beltran

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