Stand-out PR Professionals and Organizations Honored with PRSA Nebraska’s 2021 Chapter Service Awards
PRSA’s Chapter Service Awards recognize individuals and organizations in Nebraska who have risen to the top and represent the highest PR standards. During the Paper Anvil Awards in December 2021, service awards were presented to Kelly Bast, Kathy Broniecki, APR, Bozell, Project Harmony, Emily Chen-Newton and Phil Rooney.
Newcomer of the Year: Kelly Bast (Emspace + Lovgren)
On an all-volunteer board, it takes the collaboration of many to execute events that meet the high-quality professional development needs that our members have come to expect.
Kelly coordinated with the 2021 ON Brand planning committee and PRSA Nebraska communications team to ensure that every detail was executed seamlessly for this first-ever digital format. Her talent and diligence played a direct role in the event’s success. Additionally, the event included a high percentage of PRSA Nebraska attendees. As a first-year board member, Kelly Bast is deserving of this award in her recent achievements, and we celebrate her bright professional future.
Nebraska Chapter Service: Kathy Broniecki, APR (Envoy, Inc.)
As past Ethics Chair and current Sponsorship Chair on the PRSA Nebraska Board of Directors, Kathy is an exceptional leader and volunteer who is always collaborating and sharing ideas with fellow board members to strengthen the organization.
Over her years of chapter service, Kathy always works to ensure the organization’s and members’ success, especially through the unpredictable times of the pandemic. She is a true leader, not only as CEO of Envoy, Inc. but as a PR professional and friend.
We honor Kathy, in recognition of her many hours spent as an outstanding volunteer with PRSA Nebraska.
Special Achievement in PR: Bozell
In 2021, Bozell commemorated 100 years in the marketing and communications business, making it one of the longest-standing ad agencies in America. The Omaha agency began with two “newspapermen” and grew to become the eighth largest ad agency in the world, now independent and women-owned.
The world was a lot different in 1921. Bozell started in print, evolved with radio and TV, and was connected to the first-ever digital ad in the ‘90s. Now, they are fully immersed in omnichannel strategies.
Throughout the past century, Bozell has produced iconic campaigns. Do you remember the “Milk Mustache” campaign? How about “Pork, the Other White Meat”?
The Bozell team has worked with brands we all know such as Jeep, American Airlines, Verizon; and, more recently, created the National 529 Campaign to minimize student debt for future generations.
We are proud to honor Bozell with the Special Achievement in PR award during its centennial anniversary.
Community Service: Project Harmony
Child abuse is a big factor in our community. Project Harmony serves more than 4,500 children from the Omaha metro and southwest Iowa areas. Because of their coordination of care between agencies and health departments, children can transition from crisis to courage.
As more survivors courageously come forward, the need for response and preventative services is greater than ever. Project Harmony is the leading resource people turn to in our community.
With a mission to protect and support children, collaborate with professionals, and engage the community to end child abuse and neglect, Project Harmony continues to reimagine the system through state-of-the-art solutions committed to providing a safe place where children can use their voice without fear, restoring courage and facilitating healing.
Congratulations to Project Harmony, our 2021 Community Service Award honoree, and thank you for your service to the community.
Media Partner of the Year: Emily Chen-Newton (NOISE)
Emily Chen-Newton’s tenacity for access to the truth and fair representation makes her a very deserving recipient of the Media Partner of the Year Award. After her email questions to the governor went unanswered, she requested media access to weekly press briefings to ask in person. Although the request was denied and blocked for many weeks, she gained support from other news outlets and eventually gained credentials for access, attending the governor’s conferences beginning in July 2021.
As the current interim managing editor for community-led news organization NOISE, which stands for North Omaha Information Support Everyone, Emily and her team are dedicated to the truth and strive for fair representation for news media to address the information gap within North Omaha and beyond.
Professional of the Year: Phil Rooney (Douglas County Health Department)
Phil has always been a first-class professional through his various roles in communication. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Creighton University. In the early days of his career, he worked as a radio reporter and served as the news director at W-O-W Radio. Then, he covered major stories with the Associated Press for four years.
Phil now works at the Douglas County Health Department. In his role as the Resource Specialist, Phil’s most recent communications focal point has been on the front lines of communication throughout the ongoing pandemic.
Over the span of nearly two years, Phil’s COVID-19 communication efforts have helped educate citizens and organizations, calm fears and correct misinformation—keeping our community informed, safe and healthy. Through it all (and all means multiple news resources a day, daily press briefings and more), he’s remained cool, calm, and collected—the three key tenets of effective crisis communication.
We are proud to honor Phil Rooney with the PRSA Nebraska Professional of the Year award for his untiring service to the public for the benefit of community health.
Congratulations to all our 2021 Chapter Service Award winners! A recording of the PRSA Nebraska Paper Anvil Awards gala can be seen on our YouTube channel. View the full awards gala.
