Judge Selection Criteria
Judge Application Form

Mary Anthony
Mary Anthony is assistant director for university communications at Trinity University where she handles community relations and special events.  Anthony has been a member of AWC since 2000 and is a past recipient of the Chapter Star award.  She is the current president of the AWC San Antonio chapter and is also an active member of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists and the City of Olmos Park Communications Committee.  Anthony has served as a Clarion Awards judge for the past four years and is a member of the Clarion Awards Task Force.  She has received Clarion Awards in the Fundraising Event, Online Newsletter and Logo categories.  Anthony has a B.A. from Texas State University and a M.S. from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Susana G. Baumann
Susana G. Baumann is the Director of LCSWorldwide Language and Cultural Services, a language and multicultural marketing communications company currently located in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  Since 1996, LCSWorldwide has helped many organizations develop community outreach initiatives in the areas of healthcare, education, and public service in seven different states.  She is currently working on her book, ¡Hola, amigos! A Plan for Latino Outreach for Library Personnel, which will be published by Connecticut publisher Libraries Unlimited, Inc.  Baumann emigrated from Argentina to the U.S. in 1990.  In Argentina she was a tenured professor of Architecture at the National University of Rosario, Argentina.  In the U.S., she obtained a second Master’s of Arts in Liberal Studies, and taking advantage of her polished language skills, she then pursued a career in communications, publishing and marketing.  She was recently elected as the VP of Membership for the AWC Northern New Jersey Chapter.

Jane Baxter Lynn
Jane Baxter Lynn is a professional marketing and communications practitioner with more than 20 years of international experience.  Her expertise and successes include development and implementation of effective branding campaigns, strategic planning, and coalition building of diverse groups to achieve common goals.  Baxter Lynn has lived and worked in South Africa, Belgium, and the United States, with responsibility for other parts of the world.  Now based in Austin, Texas, she has a strategic marketing and communications consulting practice, JBL Strategies (www.jblstrategies.com).  She is also executive director of the Central Texas-Balcones Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.  An active member of AWC since 2006, she is actively involved in her local chapter and most recently served as Silent Auction chair for the chapter's 2009 Banner Brunch.  Previous experience includes serving on the regional board of the Public Relations Institute of South Africa;  as past president of the International Association of Business Communicators' Belgian Chapter, where she was responsible for revitalizing its membership, and is a long time member of the International Public Relations Association, for whom she served as alternate representative to the United Nations, working with the UN's communications department to develop and present public relations workshops for the UN's non-government organizations program.  Baxter Lynn also writes perspective pieces on public relations for various outlets and speaks on the subject whenever possible as she is passionate about contributing to the future of the communications profession.

Mary Blake French
Mary Blake French has been editor-in-chief of ARMY Magazine since 1993.  She began her career as a reporter and columnist at The Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, Virginia, while she was a student at the College of William and Mary, where she also worked on the college newspaper and was managing editor of the literary review.  She later covered all federal actions affecting women for two newsletters, Washington Women’s Report and Spokewoman.  In the 1980s, she worked as managing editor of AAUW’s publications, including Graduate Woman Magazine, and also reported on careers for women and minorities in Career Opportunities News, Garrett Park Press, for a decade. Blake French earned a master’s degree from the University of Virginia and taught English and American literature and women’s studies courses for the University of Virginia’s School of Continuing Education in Northern Virginia for 20 years.  She is also a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors, the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the American News Women’s Club.  A member of the Press Club’s photo committee, she has had her photos in a dozen shows at the National Press Club and in other shows in the Washington, D.C. area.

Janie Bryan Loveless
Currently the communications manager at the national headquarters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Janie Bryan Loveless edited her high school newspaper and was inspired to pursue her communications career by journalism teacher Judy Jeffress.  The Dallas native joined Women in Communications at Southern Methodist University (SMU).  As SMU yearbook editor, she double majored in journalism and French, and soon earned her Master of Liberal Arts.  Former editor of SMU’s alumni magazine, Loveless has since applied her communications skills in corporate, agency, government, non-profit and educational positions, and enjoys a wide variety of freelance and consulting opportunities.  A nine-year faculty member for SMU’s Center for Communication Arts, Janie resurrected and advised its AWC student chapter.  She’s also served as a financial marketing firm’s creative director, copy editor for American Way magazine, and PR Director for The Salvation Army, Tarrant County.  While public information supervisor for the Dallas Fire Department, Loveless earned a Matrix Award for Public Relations, and met her husband, Tom, a senior WFAA-TV news photographer.  They have one son, Bryan, a new University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Management graduate (currently welcoming job offers!)  Loveless also sings in her church choir and enjoys volunteering.

Nicole Carrubba
Nicole Carrubba, principal and founder of Captivate Communications, has an extensive background in marketing communications, project management and product development.  In addition to her experience in a variety of industries, Carrubba has particularly strong expertise in the legal marketing profession.  She possesses a deep knowledge base in how to position and sell to lawyers and law firms online, and has held senior positions at one of the most prestigious legal technology companies, prior to forming Captivate Communications.  In addition to her legal marketing experience, Carrubba has specific expertise in brand development, transformations and integrations and has been a driver of several companies' newly acquired product portfolio integrations.  She has also held several senior-level positions in major corporations, including director of product marketing.  Carrubba has her MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an undergraduate degree in communications.  To learn more, visit www.captiv8communications.com.

Jenny Engle
Jenny Engle has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, strategic positioning, promotion, and public relations and is the principal in jke marketing and communications, a consulting firm which specializes in helping businesses develop and implement start up and turn around marketing strategies.  She is a past National President of AWC and serves on numerous boards of regional and state professional and civic organizations.  She earned an MPA from Penn State University and a BS from Millersville University.

Annette Frahm
Annette Frahm is owner and principal of Sage Enviro, which specializes in environmental marketing and communications.  Frahm has earned a national reputation for big-picture thinking, creative communications strategies, and expertise in social marketing and environmental behavior change.  She is consulted locally and nationally for her insights and her ability to get things done.  She has nearly 30 years of experience in environmental communications.  Frahm teaches social marketing workshops, does strategic planning and facilitation, and provides a range of other communications services.  Sage Enviro clients include government environmental programs, sustainable businesses, and non-profit organizations.  Recent projects have focused on salmon recovery, urban forest restoration, sustainable landscape practices, energy efficiency, and climate change.

Judy Gallagher
Judy Gallagher has been in the communications field for 30 years, as an editor, and public relations professional.  She has been the Communications Director, Girl Scouts - Seven Lakes Council for 21 of those years.  The council covers the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier Regions of New York State and Northern Pennsylvania.  She is a member of the national Girl Scouts' 100th anniversary planning team.  Judy is a one-person department handling internal and external communications including media relations, print and Web publications.  She is a member AWC Rochester, NY Chapter.  She is past chair of the Geneva Human Rights Commission and Planned Parenthood of the Finger Lakes.  She has been a member of the Geneva League of Women of Voters, and is on the board of directors for the Rochester Women's Community Chorus.  She has two daughters, ages 18 and 22.

Stacey Gendler
Stacey Gendler Bush has been the special sections coordinator and writer at the Pioneer Press, St. Paul’s daily newspaper, for more than 20 years.  In that capacity, she acts as project manager, writer and editor for dozens of the newspaper’s special sections and features each year, and has received several national awards for her work.  As part of the marketing department, she also writes promotional material and ads for both the paper and its online site, TwinCities.com.  Additionally, Bush has edited both fiction and non-fiction manuscripts.  She is an independent member of AWC and a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Deborah Gooding
A native of Oklahoma, Deborah earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications from East Central University (Ada, OK) and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma.  For the past four years, she has served as the director of communications/marketing for Girl Scouts-Western Oklahoma.  Before joining Girl Scouts, she served as a senior communications coordinator for a national advertising agency in Nashville, TN, for eight years, and was the communicators coordinator for a state college in Oklahoma for five years.  In addition, she has worked as a managing editor for a daily in suburban Tulsa, and as a features/news reporter for newspapers in Oklahoma and Texas.

Roberta Grant
Roberta Grant currently lives in Santa Barbara, where she edits Fielding Graduate University's alumni publication, Fielding Focus.  She joined AWC's Santa Barbara chapter soon after its inception two years ago.  Grant has served as executive editor at SHAPE and Golf & Spa, features editor at ELLE, and senior editor at Ladies' Home Journal and Los Angeles magazine.  She has written investigative features for Rolling Stone and New York magazine, travel articles for Departures and SHAPE, and book reviews for the New York Times Book Review.

Jean Havens
Jean Havens is the Director of Communications for Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc., Pleasantville, NY, which serves over 32,000 girl and 15,000 adult members throughout seven counties in the Hudson River valley of southeastern New York State.  She has provided public relations and communications work professionally for the Girl Scouts for nearly 30 years, including a stint in London, England, as Publications Editor for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.  A 39-year member of AWC, Havens is a past president and Matrix Award recipient of the Westchester-Fairfield Professional Chapter.  She is the current newsletter editor for the American Association of University Women – New York State and has served as a communications competition judge for other AWC chapters as well as the New York State School Public Relations Association and the Archdiocese of New York’s Instructional Television Eddy Awards.  She has a B.A. in newspaper journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a M.S. in communication arts from Iona College where she has also served as an adjunct faculty member.

Jo-Ann Huff Albers
Jo-Ann Huff Albers, professor in the optional retirement program of Western Kentucky University, was founder of the WKU School of Journalism & Broadcasting.  She went to WKU in August 1987 as head of the Department of Journalism after 27 years in daily newspapers that started at The Cincinnati Enquirer where she spent 20 years in a variety of editorial positions.  She was editor and publisher of Sturgis Journal in Michigan in 1981 and 1982 and of Public Opinion in Chambersburg, Pa., from 1982 to 1986.  She worked briefly as a general news executive in Gannett company headquarters in Rosslyn, Va.  She has represented the Association for Women in Communications on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication since 1980 and been president of Women in Communications Inc. and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.  She is a graduate of Miami University and Xavier University, both in Ohio.

Christine Hunt
Christine Hunt is a freelance commercial and creative writer with over 30 years of copywriting, editing, and design experience primarily in the fields on advertising, the arts, education, history, law, mechanical engineering, medicine, and theology.  She taught secondary-level English and creative writing for over ten years before launching Right Line editing & Design in 2005.  (www.RightLineEditing.com)  Hunt has seen four of her full-length playscripts and over fifty multi-media and video presentations produced.  She has ghostwritten four books with total sales of over 85,000.  Hunt is currently working on a narrative non-fiction book, Presumed Guilty, based on a wrongful death conviction overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court.  She is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.  Hunt has four children and four grandchildren; her youngest son is a Marine currently serving in Iraq.

Roberta Kelly
Roberta Kelly holds degrees in journalism and veterinary science and since 1985 has taught journalism at Washington State University.  She also freelance edits and has a special interest in science- teaching a seminar in science communication as part of two National Science Foundation grants. Kelly served twice as president of the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism educators and twice as journalism program head at WSU.  She is the assistant dean of undergraduate studies for the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at WSU and faculty adviser for the WSU Chapter of AWC.  Kelly is an honorary member of The National Society of Student Scholars and the Golden Key National Honor Society and was a WSU 2007 and 2009 Outstanding Mentor.

Alison Laffe
Alison Laffe has 10 years of experience working in the advertising and newspaper industry.  She currently works as an advertising sales manager for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel where she manages a team of account executives.  She has served as president of the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of AWC, as well as vice president of membership.  Laffe has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.

Jayne E. Marsh, APR, CFRE
Jayne E. Marsh is an accredited public relations and fund development professional with more than 30 years of marketing communications, public relations, media, and fundraising experience in the higher education, non-profit, governmental, and cultural arts fields.  She was instrumental in the re-birth of the Lansing Michigan chapter of Women in Communications, Inc. (WICI) chapter in the 1980s, served as professional advisor to the Michigan State University (MSU) student WICI chapter, chaired the Great Lakes Regional WICI Meeting in 1983, and holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from MSU.

Kathy McFeeters
Kathy works as a staff assistant in the Subrogation Services Department at State Farm, lending her written communication and editing expertise to her peers.  She also serves as the Communication Chair for the My Generation Employee Resource Group, and is very active in the Young Business Professionals Employee Resource Group, both at State Farm.  Her passion is recognizing how the generations represented in the workforce interact with and impact each other.  Kathy also is passionate about helping others identify their development and career goals, and creating methods to achieve those goals.  Kathy aspires to put her passions to work in the Human Resources industry, specifically in the area of recruiting.

Outside of work, Kathy is very active in her church and oversees the Resource Table ministry.  Additional hobbies include reading, scrapbooking, watching movies, traveling, throwing pottery on the wheel, spoiling her niece, and listening to music.  She currently serves as the Secretary and Professional Development Chair of the Bloomington Normal Chapter and will step into the President-Elect role in 2009.  She is the 2009 recipient of the Bloomington-Normal Chapter Member of the Year Award.

Wendy Moniz
Wendy Moniz joined PlowShare Group in September, 2007.  As head of their DC-based office she oversees public service campaigns for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National 4-H Council and National Parks Conservation Association and Alliance to Save Energy.  Prior to joining PlowShare, Moniz spent nearly eight years at the Ad Council.  As V.P., Campaign Director, she managed public service advertising campaigns in the Washington, D.C. office.  Moniz has more than 20 years of ad agency and industry experience, beginning her career at The One Club for Art & Copy, New York, where she managed the ad industry’s premier creative award show.  She also worked at Hill, Holliday and Arnold Communications, and directed and produced all educational seminars and events for the advertising and marketing community while at the Advertising Club of Boston.

Lynn O’Connell
Lynn O’Connell serves as Executive Director of the Physician Assistant Foundation, a national healthcare grant-maker in Alexandria, VA.  She has more than 15 years of experience with non-profit organizations and fundraising.  Lynn holds a Master’s in Philanthropy from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Dara Quackenbush
Dara Quackenbush is a public relations professor at Texas State University and a strategic communications adviser.  She has more than 15 years of experience in marketing communications, public relations, branding and product positioning and has worked with both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies.  Quackenbush is involved in the community and volunteers for several local theatre and art organizations.  She is a member of the board of directors for the Austin chapter of AWC and was the chair of the marketing committee for the Austin American Heart Association’s 2007-2008 Go Red for Women and Heart Ball campaigns and the 2008-2009 Art Alliance Austin season.  In 2008 the Texas State University Student Foundation named her as one of its Foundation of excellence honorees;  in 2009 she was a finalist for Texas State University’s Student Organization Adviser of the Year.  Quackenbush earned a master’s degree in mass communication from Texas State University, where her research emphasis was blogging and opinion leadership, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.

Loretta Redd
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Loretta Redd received her Ph.D. in psychology and established a practice with terminally ill children and their families.  She served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force with the Security Service division, specializing in stress reduction and crisis intervention.  She has directed two non-profit organizations and a foundation in California before turning her attention and studies to executive coaching.  Redd is now combining her 35 years of experience to offer a specialized coaching practice that moves executives and groups through disaster situations or through personal crisis with confidence and clarity.  In addition to her work in coaching, Redd writes a weekly political opinion column and will soon release her first mystery, Unjust by Coincidence.

Laura Shankland
Laura Shankland is a communications associate at SEDL, a nonprofit that specializes in education research and development and is based in Austin, Texas.  She oversees the production of several e-newsletters and is the editor of the organization's corporate magazine SEDL Letter.  She also handles media relations and coordinates the work of SEDL's Center for Professional Learning.  Shankland's communications and publishing experience includes work for the educational publisher Holt, Rinehart and Winston and the University of Texas Press.  She has more than 10 years experience in education communications, in addition to working as a bilingual fifth-grade teacher through Teach for America.  Shankland has a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.  Recent honors include the Association of Educational Publisher's Distinguished Achievement Award in the category of adult learning, e-newsletter.

Carolyn Stevenson
Dr. Stevenson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Master of Arts degree in Communications, and a Doctor of Education degree with an emphasis in Educational Leadership and Organizational Change.  She has over 13 years teaching and administrative experience in higher education, including ten years experience in online education.  Prior to working in higher education, she worked as a Developmental Editor for Irwin Publishing, served as an Assistant Managing Editor for Mosby, and worked as a technical writing consultant for Kraft General Foods.  During 20007-2008, she presented papers and held workshop at conferences such as Sloan-C, The American Education Research Association, Distance Leaning Administration, and The Instructional Technology Council.  She currently is the Assistant Dean of Programs at Kaplan University and serves as the Faculty Advisor for the KU Chapter of The Association for Women in Communications.

Diana L.D. Stewart
Diana L.D. Stewart is an award-winning writer with over 25 years of professional experience.  Starting out as a journalist, Stewart has spent most of her career as an advertising copywriter, having written for accounts as diverse as Pepperidge Farm Cookies, American Express, and the Aventis-Sanofi line of global vaccines.  Her career has also spanned three states:  New York, California and New Jersey.  In addition to traditional advertising, Stewart has written jingles, radio spots, audio training scripts and websites.  She has a B.A. in English from Lehman College, City University of New York, and will receive an M.A. in Teaching English from Montclair State University in 2010.  Diana is employed by ACCESS Communications located in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where she is an associate creative director of copy.  Stewart has been a member of AWC for 2 years and has served as a Clarion judge.

Linda Strelluf
Linda Strelluf has studied and practiced communication strategies for thirty years.  Following this fascination, she earned a B.A. in Speech from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Master’s degree in both Film and Literature from Baker University.  Currently, Strelluf is a professor at Avila University in Kansas City.  She teaches a variety of communication classes including PR, film, popular culture, mass media, and writing- collaborating with “real world” clients to give her students communication opportunities in the workplace.  Before coming to Avila, Strelluf taught English and Communication, was employed as a company agent for Starlight Theatre, worked on promotions for National general Theatres, and lectured on overcoming audience anxiety and accessing creativity.  In 1986 she founded a small company, which affiliated with Country Sampler Group in 1998.  Linda writes The Myopic Maven at www.lindastrelluf.com.

Deborah Sullivan
Deborah Sullivan is the vice president and manager of Investment Communications at PNC.  A pioneer in the development and use of automation for the creation and delivery of equity research, Sullivan was invited to speak in an international forum on research automation in Paris in 2004 and in New York in 2006.  As The Sports Diva, Sullivan writes an all-sports column at www.thesportsdiva.com.  She is also a member of the Philadelphia Daily News Sports Consumer Forum.

Pat Vaccaro
Pat Vaccaro has more than 20 years of experience as a writer, editor, and consultant in marketing, public relations and publications.  As communications director for DickinsonGroup, a national real estate marketing firm, she creates concepts and content for print and digital marketing, as well as press materials and bylined articles.  Her work has appeared in Urban Land, Commercial Investment Real Estate Journal, Visual Merchandising and Store Design, Healthcare Building Ideas, and Modern Steel Construction.  Vaccaro joined AWC in 1981, later serving as vice president of the Chicago chapter and president of the neighboring North Shore chapter.  She holds a master’s degree from the magazine program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in communication from Milikin University.

Additional judges include: Shelly Brandell, Randi Bjornstad, Denise Barnwell, Monica L. Whitworth, Christie Lambert, Cecelia Fresh, Deborah Forsten, Christine D’Angela, Corrinne Russell, Pat Lovenhart, Susan Barney Jones, Dana Morgan, Susanne D. Dupes, Beverly S. Bailey, Sally Decelis, Carlyn Crowe, Ann H. Rodriguez, Dawn C. Balistreri, and Ellen Averill.