2024 Impact Awards: Tops in Public Relations Honored for Excellence
The Southern Arizona chapter of the Public Relations Society of America announced the winners for the IMPACT Awards for Excellence in Public Relations, which recognize the outstanding efforts of public relations and communications projects and professionals across the region.
The 2024 IMPACT Awards ceremony took place Oct. 22 at Pima County Historical Courthouse, and honored 15 organizations with a total of 31 awards.
The year’s top individual honor went to Lisa Romero, associate VP for research, communications and marketing for University of Arizona’s Office of Research, Innovation & Impact, who was granted the chapter’s Career Impact Award. Other individual honors went to retired KVOA-TV reporter Lupita Murillo and Arizona Daily Star higher education reporter Ellie Wolfe, who shared recognition as the 2024 Media Person of the Year. Mandy Betz, account coordinator for Caliber Group, was named PR Rookie of the Year, and the 2024 PR Professional of the Year award winner was Jessa B. Turner, associate VP for marketing and communications for Tech Parks Arizona.
The UA Institute for Computation and Institute for Computation and Data-Enabled Insight received this year’s Best in Show Award, with the highest scoring submission for its AI Update newsletter and overall efforts to help the UA community navigate the challenges of AI.
IMPACT Award honorees represent the highest standards in programs and projects that successfully incorporate the four key elements of public relations: research, planning, execution, and evaluation.
This year’s submissions were judged and scored by the PRSA Charlotte, N.C. chapter. Winners receive either an IMPACT Award of Excellence in Public Relations, the highest scoring category, or an IMPACT Certificate of Excellence. Entries are judged on their own merits.
