New York, NY – October 21, 2025 – The PRSA Foundation, an independent, 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion within the communications profession, announced today that the 2025 Paladin Award will be presented to Bill Imada, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer at IW Group.

For more than three decades, Bill and his team have played a critical role in engaging the growing Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. IW Group has offices in Los Angeles, Dallas, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Bill and his agency represent some of the most recognized brands globally, including BeamSuntory, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Lexus, MARVEL, McDonald’s, MGM Resorts, NBCUniversal, Nielsen, Northwestern Mutual, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walmart Stores, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Pictures, Wells Fargo, and many others.

Two decades ago, Bill sold a portion of his agency to True North Communications, which was later acquired by Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). IW Group is now a part of two global organizations, Interpublic Group and Worldcom PR Group.

Bill co-founded six national organizations, including APIA Scholars, Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (National ACE), ACE NextGen, AAPI DEI Leaders, National Millennial and Gen Z Community, and VOICES for AAPIs.

Bill serves on the boards of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Educational Foundation, Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, Institute for Public Relations, LAGRANT Foundation, and National ACE. He also serves on the PR, advertising and/or marketing advisory councils for six universities, including California State University-Northridge, University of Florida, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, University of Southern Mississippi, and Western Connecticut State University.

Bill’s agency was recently named Multicultural PR Agency of the Year (2025) by PR Week and Multicultural Advertising Agency of the Year (2025) by Advertising Age. Bill was also inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Fame in 2024 and into the PR Week Hall of Fame in 2022.

About the Paladin Award

The Paladin Award, which will be presented at PRSA ICON on the evening of October 29 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., honors communications leaders who have made a significant and measurable impact on the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the public relations sector.

“I am delighted the PRSA Foundation will recognize Bill Imada with the Paladin Award during the PRSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Celebration at PRSA ICON in Washington, D.C.,” said Thomas Bennett, president, PRSA Foundation. “It goes without saying that Bill is very well-respected and known within the PR and communications profession. He has made a significant impact throughout his career and particularly when it comes to making the profession more diverse, inclusive, and a profession where everyone feels they belong. He is very deserving of this recognition and award.”

Previous recipients of the Paladin Award have included Trisch L. Smith, Andy Polansky, Soon Mee Kim, Torod Neptune, Lou Capozzi, Patrice Tanaka, Mike Fernandez, Charlotte Otto, Harris Diamond, Daniel J. Edelman, Harold Burson, Jon Iwata, Marcia Silverman and John Graham.