August Program Recap – Leadership Celebration
Our leadership celebration and installation of the 2022-2023 officers and directors was a spectacular event! We enjoyed the space and food at Township TLH in College Town.
To kick off the event, outgoing chapter president Zoe Linafelt, APR, gave a brief overview of the past year. She shared that two honors were awarded to our chapter at Annual Conference by state president Devon Chestnut, APR, CPRC: the President’s Award for Leadership Development and Chapter President of the Year! Zoe thanked the 2021-22 officers and board members for their hard work and service to our community’s professionals.
Incoming chapter president Holly Brooks then announced the winners of our chapter awards:
- 2021-2022 New Member of the Year: Nipa Eason
- 2021-2022 Communicator of the Year: Danny Aller
- 2021-2022 President’s Award Winner: Nanette Schimpf, APR, CPRC
- 2021-2022 Stan Tait Award Winner: Amanda Handley, APR, CPRC
Incoming state FPRA president (and past Capital Chapter president) Jay Morgan-Schleuning, APR, CPRC, shared his theme, “You Belong at FPRA,” and stated his vision for the coming year. Jay emphasized that FPRA will work to ensure in the years ahead that the Association’s leadership reflects the demographics of the state of Florida and the diverse communities our chapters represent.
Jay then installed the 2022-2023 officers and board members:
- President: Holly Brooks
- Immediate Past President: Zoe Linafelt, APR
- (President-Elect Carla Brown Lucas will be installed at a later date)
- Treasurer: Andy Janecek
- (Secretary Mary Katherine Delegal will be installed at a later date)
- Director of Credentialing: Lauren Helm, APR
- Director of Awards & Recognition: Valencia Scott
- Director of Communications: Kendra Parson
- Director of Membership: Heather Johnson
- Director of Programming: Caroline Benson
- Director of Student Relations: Kelly Corder, APR, CPRC
Then, Holly shared her background and vision for the coming year, which includes a focus on increasing the engagement of college students and entry-level professionals in the Capital Chapter.
We ended with a favorite tradition of our chapter, the “passing of the gavel,” where past chapter presidents share a few words about their presidency year and pass on some wisdom to the incoming chapter president. Many past presidents and Holly honored the late Dr. Jay Rayburn. We had a great turnout of past presidents, with some even traveling from other cities just to attend.