ECD Chapter Spotlight: PRSA Hoosier Chapter
January is “New Leadership Month” on the ECD calendar so it is appropriate to dedicate the first ECD Chapter Spotlight of 2026 to the PRSA Hoosier Chapter. We celebrate our colleagues in Indiana for their new chapter leadership, and we welcome two Hoosier chapter members to new leadership roles on the 2026 ECD Board.
Joining the ECD board this year is Deeksha Kapoor and returning in a new role is Christine “Chris” DeJoy. Deeksha has been a Hoosier chapter member since 2012 and served as chapter president in 2022 when she helped elevate the chapter to ECD Prominent Chapter distinction. She will devote her strategic planning skills to the ECD website and Platinum Award committees. Chris is a relative newcomer to the Hoosier chapter after 17 years away from home working in TV broadcasting in Los Angeles. She will contribute her content creation skills as co-chair of ECD social media.
“This recognition is a strong reminder of the importance of the work we do every day to serve our members, and a powerful demonstration of how our chapter is laser focused on delivering exceptional member experiences,” Deeksha said after accepting the Prominent award for her chapter in 2022.
The Hoosier chapter was founded in 1957, ten years after the American Public Relations Association merged with the National Association of Public Relations Counselors to form PRSA. The chapter has 221 members from across Indiana, including those working in associations, agencies, corporations, universities, nonprofits, government, and independent practitioners.
The chapter has won four national PRSA chapter membership incentive awards, hosted an ICON and three East Central District conferences, and has been named the top-ranked chapter for management. It received the PRSA Chapter Excellence Award for professional development and collectively has won three PRSA Silver Anvil Awards.
We congratulate 2025 ECD Diamond Award winner LaMar Holliday on his election to chapter president. While president-elect, Lamar gave his first presentation at the PRSA Counselors Academy, focusing on how PR pros can leverage journalists for PR success. That discussion prompted him to design an institute for journalists who want to successful transition into public relations.
LaMar transitioned to chapter president with the Hoosier’s oddly named “Passing of the Spoon” ceremony in December. This tradition is truly a “Fun Fact” about the Hoosier chapter.
According to Past President David Shank, APR, Fellow PRSA, the tradition began in 1981. The chapter was small and so frugal, it could not afford a gavel. When it came time to name the new chapter president during their traditional meeting at the Essex Hotel, they had no gavel to pass. Shank improvised by giving a hotel teaspoon to outgoing president Bob Clark to pass to new president Peg Root. The “Order of the Silver Spoon” was born. The rest, as they say, is history!
“From that day decades ago,” said Shank, “in sparse and Spartan surroundings, the hallowed tradition of the PRSA Hoosier Chapter Order of the Silver Spoon has sparked the growth of the pleasant little chapter to a major power in the Public Relations Society of America.”
Another Fun Fact is that Hoosier members were nominated and won Emmy awards in 2025 for projects with their clients. The chapter’s biggest project is the annual Pinnacle Awards, and LaMar says the Secret to a Happy Chapter is, “Engagement and education.”
2026 Hoosier Officers:
President: LaMar Holliday
Immediate Past President: Brytnie Dickerson
President-Elect: Tom Spalding, APR
Assembly Delegates: Tom Spalding, Hyacinth Rucker & Mark Back
Director of Member Services: Konah Williams
Director of Communications: Jericho Barr-Redmond
Director of Research & Operations: Curt Brantingham, APR
Director of Membership: Mary Farucci
Director of Professional Development: Tom Spalding, APR