On June 18, Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR), a professional society for female communicators in the greater capital area, named its 2024 class of Emerging Leaders Awards (ELAs). The seven winners were selected from a diverse and impressive slate of rising stars, ages 25-35, who have excelled in public relations and related fields, and given back to the industry by contributing their skills and talents to innovative initiatives and projects.
“We continue to celebrate the remarkable achievements of young women who represent the next era of communications,” said Chelsea Echavarria, President of WWPR. “Congratulations to the finalists and the honorees who were selected from another record number of nominations. We look forward to following their careers and supporting them along the way.”
The 2024 WWPR Emerging Leaders Awards Winners are:
Corporate: Michelle Byamugisha, Senior Manager, Communications, PwC
Michelle Byamugisha is a leader with global experience in public relations and stakeholder engagement across multiple sectors. Currently, Michelle is a senior manager on PwC’s communications team, with a focus on people communications and public affairs. When she’s not coordinating internal employee engagement campaigns to a 75,000+ strong workforce or managing owned/earned content strategies, Michelle is engaged in social inclusion efforts both inside and outside the office.
Prior to PwC, Michelle was on the social impact team at Weber Shandwick where she helped purpose-driven clients tell their stories through an audience-centric approach to thought leadership. In Weber’s DC office, Michelle served as chairperson of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and was also recognized as the 2020 employee of the year.
Trade Association: Jen Bristol, Senior Director of Communications, Solar Energy Industries Association
Jen Bristol is a strategic communications expert who has dedicated her career to supporting the U.S. solar and storage industry.
Currently, Jen leads the communications team at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), where she supervises a team of communications professionals and orchestrates public affairs campaigns and announcements designed to expand the U.S. solar market.
Prior to joining SEIA, Jen was the deputy communications lead at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, where she provided communications support and led the office’s awardee engagement efforts, editorial calendar, web presence, and special communications projects and events.
Non-Profit: Valeria Sabaté, Senior Media and Public Affairs Manager, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Valeria Sabaté is the Sr. Media & Public Affairs Manager at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She drives organization-wide media and public affairs engagement, elevating AAAS’ leadership/policy positions and news at the nexus between science and society while protecting its reputation through risk assessment and crisis communications preparedness.
Valeria has many years of experience in media relations, public relations and crisis communications in health care, public health, publishing and science associations.
Before joining AAAS, Valeria was the Sr. Communications Specialist, Research & Innovation at the Children’s National Hospital (CNH).
For more such updates, follow us on Google News Martech News