Words matter – and nobody knows that better than the students of Centennial’s Public Relations and Corporate Communications program. Each year, their best work is entered in the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) Toronto chapter’s Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Awards, which recognize Toronto’s most talented public relations and communications practitioners. This year’s ceremony on July 20 saw Centennial student teams collect three awards, as well as CPRS Student of the Year, Kathy Yang.
With a background in social services, Kathy has a knack for connecting people with information. Prior to studying public relations at the Story Arts Centre, Kathy spent three years working in the social services sector, holding progressive roles at the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, a non-profit organization serving seniors in the GTA. During this time, Kathy facilitated technology-based programming to support seniors’ social interaction and led several development writing projects, securing grant funding for new programs and services. Kathy also provided research and writing support to executive leaders and implemented various special events, including a media conference and corporate celebrations. Through these experiences, Kathy discovered her interest in communications and went on to pursue higher education at Centennial College.
In the category of Student Public Relations Communications Plan of the Year, Centennial placed two teams in the top three, including a Silver for Chiara Silo, Daniela Biggart, Dhruvy Rawal, Karson Simpson and Nicholas Li for their Shaping the Future campaign on behalf of the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms. The team developed a plan in collaboration with professionals to promote diversity in the PR industry and to attract new talent to the field. The campaign was aimed at high school and university students to convey the message that a career in PR empowers individuals to become agents of change and make a positive difference in society. A key component of the plan was its podcast mini-series. In this example, tune in to hear industry experts talk about PR: Shaping the Future.
Bronze in the same category went to Amanda Cheung, Arielle Rodrigues, Addy Sison, Albina Sufaj and Javier Pardo for their The Women We Know campaign for the Breast Cancer Support Fund. Their campaign was focused around Family Day to reinforce the importance of family support for those dealing with breast cancer. It included a podcast series with four guests, media relations and social media outreach. Have a listen to the Breast Cancer Support Fund podcast.
In the Student Public Relations Campaign or Event of the Year (Executed) category, Bronze went to Eleanor Willner-Fraser, Monika Haresh, Kathy Yang, Sevdia Rama and Natalia Franco for their Face-to-Face February campaign for The GenWell Project. During the COVID-19 pandemic, students pursued their studies virtually, but lost the vital social benefits of in-person interaction. Our team of students partnered with The GenWell Project, the human connection movement, to lead this year's Face-to-Face February campaign, a 28-day social media challenge that encouraged people to get socially connected. The daily prompts, designed in consultation with social health experts, helped students warm up their social muscles and ease back into in-person situations. The daily challenges – Wordle but for human connection! – were posted on the GenWell Project's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter platforms.
Congratulations to all our ACE Award winners and to our dedicated Centennial College faculty who nurtured their talents.