Inez Y. Kaiser

Inez Yeargan Kaiser (April 22, 1918 – July 31, 2016) was an American educator, public relations expert, and entrepreneur. She was the first African-American woman to run a public relations company with national clients. Her father told her "no one can take away from you what’s in your head.”

Kaiser earned a bachelor's degree in education from Pittsburg State University in 1941. Later, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University. She was featured in Seventeen magazine "as one of the most outstanding home economics teachers in the country." In 1957, she founded Inez Kaiser & Associates, which was both the first public relations firm led by an African-American woman and the first business owned by an African American to open in Kansas City.

The Greater Kansas City chapter of the Public Relations Society of America established a scholarship in her name in 2021.

Writing career Kaiser began writing a column, "Fashion Wise and Otherwise", which was published in African-American newspapers and magazines around the country for its over 30 year run. During the column's popularity, Kaiser leveraged her readership to promote the use of pictures of models of color, giving them employment in areas where they had never been considered before. She also wrote a home economics column, "Hints for Homemakers" that also was published in African-American newspapers and reached a readership of over 8 million people nationwide.

Kaiser also wrote a cookbook titled Soul Food Cookery, which was published in 1960. It is featured in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Political views In 1958, Kaiser organized a group in Kansas City, Twin Citians, who picketed department stores in the city to protest discrimination.

Kaiser was a life-long Republican, and she advised the Nixon and Ford administrations on issues related to minority women and business. Through her work in political advising, she was named the National Minority Advocate of the Year in 1997. According to her son, she voted for Barack Obama.