Member Spotlight: Q&A with Ken Hagihara, APR, Fellow PRSA
Posted on May. 21, 2026 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
Q. Can you share a bit about your journey in public relations and what has kept you in the field throughout your career?
I was serving as a satellite communications technician in the Air Force and my boss made me go back to school. I got into CSUF and chose to major in communications with a public relations emphasis because the degree was only 124 units and I just wanted to make my boss happy. (I didn’t even know what PR was.) In my capstone course, I created and executed a public relations campaign that included a canned food drive for the Orange County Rescue Mission and I knew that I wanted to do this for a career, so I quit my job and switched to PR.
My first job was working for UCI Advancement as a senior public information representative, where I primarily wrote articles for UCI News and the Advancement magazine. I joined OCPRSA as soon as I graduated and began attending chapter events. I met Les Goldberg at one of the events and upon learning that I had a deep technical background, he convinced me to leave UCI and join the public relations division of an agency where he was a partner. It is in that agency where I began my career in technology PR.
Soon thereafter, I decided to pursue my entrepreneurial dream and started Integrity Public Relations, Inc. Since 2000, I have provided public relations consultation primarily for global technology brands and nonprofit organizations.
In 2008, seeking to be part of something bigger than myself and my little agency, I applied for and was selected for a commission as a Navy public affairs officer. A few years into my service, I was assigned to a unit whose mission was to raise awareness of the U.S. Navy across the country. This is where I found my love for public outreach work. I was largely responsible for bringing an aircraft carrier into the Port of Los Angeles for the first time in over 20 years for LA Navy Week 2011. While I was assigned to THIRD FLEET Headquarters in San Diego, the active-duty public affairs officer tasked me to serve as the action officer in the planning and execution of the first-ever Los Angeles Fleet Week in 2016, managing media relations, community relations, and outreach activities. While I retired from the Navy Reserve in 2020, I have continued to serve on the LA Fleet Week planning committee every year since.
In 2015, I was given the opportunity to teach a course focusing on the business of public relations at CSUF and following that initial semester, I began teaching two public relations management capstone courses each semester. Given my agency workload and Navy responsibilities, that was about all I could handle. On Memorial Day in 2017, I received a call from my mentor at CSUF notifying me that he was retiring immediately and I was offered the opportunity to become a full-time lecturer. After explaining to me that this could be my ONE opportunity to move to full-time, I accepted the position – in addition to my agency workload and Navy responsibilities.
I have since retired from the Navy, but my agency work and full-time teaching continue and the value that I bring to the classroom from my work in the industry adds greatly to the overall experience for the students.
So what has kept me in the field? I love PR because I love how my work can impact the organizations I serve. I typically know the senior leadership in my client organizations because PR strategy and tactics are highly valued in every aspect of the business – sales, marketing, human resources, etc. I enjoy being part of the strategic discussions and seeing how my suggestions and actions impact the organizations I serve. I enjoy making a difference for organizations and PR has allowed me to do that.
Q. How has being part of the OCPRSA community influenced your professional journey?
OCPRSA was there at the beginning of my professional journey and I would not have been as successful without the people I’ve met and programs that I’ve participated in. When I started consulting, my initial client referrals came from my OCPRSA friends. Joining the OCPRSA board shortly after graduation gave me valuable industry insights and professional relationships that helped form the way that I did business. PROTOS awards gave my work much-needed validation for use in marketing my agency. I don’t believe my career would have been as successful and enjoyable as it has been without being involved in OCPRSA. And I certainly would not have earned my APR if I wasn’t a member.
Q. Looking back on your career across public relations, education, and public service, what accomplishments stand out most to you?
From the public relations standpoint, I’m definitely proud of being inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows. Showcasing case studies of my professional work covering 20+ years in public relations and having the College validate the quality of my work and including me in the distinguished list of some of the most accomplished individuals in our profession was an honor that I never thought I would attain.
On the education side, having the opportunity to serve as the National Faculty Adviser for PRSSA was one of the most fulfilling positions I’ve held. Being able to bring my experience and work alongside some of the best and brightest student leaders and fellow advisers from our national and international chapters was an amazing opportunity and shaped the way that I see the needs of the organization and the students that we serve.
As a public affairs officer in the Navy Reserve, I always felt imposter syndrome working for the active duty PAOs – after all, I was just a reservist. However, I was able to integrate my public relations experience into the Navy public affairs environment and built such a strong reputation that I was regularly assigned by my active-duty leadership as the action officer for large scale public events such as Navy Weeks and Fleet Weeks across the nation. Being able to be referred to by my active duty colleagues as a PAO vs. a “reservist,” was an honor.
Q. As an APR and seasoned PR practitioner, what value do you believe accreditation brings to communications professionals?
I earned my APR 17 years into my public relations career. At that point, I had been a public relations consultant for 17 years, a Navy public affairs officer for nine years, and an educator for two years, and I felt I had done just fine without an APR. However, as a condition for taking a full-time lecturer position at CSUF, one of my responsibilities would be to serve as faculty adviser for the PRSSA chapter and, according to the department chair, I would need my APR to serve as adviser.
Before I took the exam, I felt I knew it all. As it turns out, I didn’t. Preparing for the APR exam gave me a more comprehensive knowledge of the strategy behind the development of effective, impactful public relations planning and execution. I learned the importance and value of continuous, targeted research at all stages of the campaign. Taking, and finally passing (two tries), the APR exam made me a more effective, strategic public relations practitioner for my clients and gave me the knowledge required to provide the students in my public relations introduction and capstone courses a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of how to plan and execute effective, efficient public relations campaigns.
Q. We understand you are running for a national PRSA leadership position next year. What inspired you to pursue this opportunity, and what do you hope to bring to the role if elected?
This is my fourth year of service on the Universal Accreditation Board and I serve as the workgroup chair for the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations. As my committee and I have worked to identify strategies for increasing participation in the Certificate program by PRSSA members at an international level, I’ve found that one of the main reasons is because of the lack of perceived value. Employers don’t know about the program, so having the certificate on the resume is not really a differentiator for the student. With a $150 test fee, most students I’ve spoken to don’t feel it’s worth the investment. As I began talking with public relations executives at some global brands, I expected that they would not be aware of the certificate program, but was astounded that many didn’t know much about APR and the value that an accredited professional brings to the organization. If I am elected to a national leadership position, I plan to use the position to secure meetings with executives in corporations and leaders in communications programs at universities in the Western District to raise awareness of the value that individuals who hold the Certificate and APR bring to an organization.
Q. Is there anything you’d like to share in recognition of AANHPI Heritage Month?
Several years ago, my family took a five-hour drive north to the Manzanar National Historic Site – the site of the concentration camp in which my father and his family were incarcerated during World War II. I have a photo of my dad pointing to his name and those of my Japanese-American grandparents, uncles, and aunts, on the wall of internees. I’ve also visited the Go For Broke Monument in Los Angeles upon which the name of my uncle who served in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team is inscribed.
I don’t forget the hardships and racism that my relatives were subjected to. Their experiences shaped the way I was raised. I was raised to be empathetic, work hard, be trustworthy, honest, and kind. The ways in which that generation responded to those challenges by their contributions to society changed the world in which I live, where I feel I’ve had every opportunity to pursue and achieve my career and personal dreams.
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