New York, NY – Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, will receive the 2021 IPR Lifetime Achievement Award for her leadership and significant contributions to public relations. Gagen will accept the Institute’s highest honor at the 59th Annual IPR Distinguished Lecture and Awards Dinner on December 2, 2021, at Current at Chelsea Piers.
The IPR Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual whose character exemplifies leadership through demonstrating the power of effective use of public relations and research while living the values of integrity, humility, and stewardship. The IPR Dinner and Awards Committee comprising IPR Trustees, past winners, and academic leaders in the field, recognized MacDonald’s long-time impact on and leadership contributions to the public relations field.
“Maril embodies the very best of our profession – innovative, caring, and committed to helping her team members, clients, and professional colleagues succeed,” said Catherine Mathis, Chief Communications Officer at McGraw Hill and chair of the IPR Awards Committee. “Given all that she has done to advance communications and make our profession more diverse, she is very deserving of this honor.”
MacDonald founded her eponymous firm that focuses on strategy execution and change leadership more than 20 years ago. She is also the founder of Let Go & Lead, an online community dedicated to new philosophies and strategies for leadership.
MacDonald serves on multiple boards, including as a Trustee with the Institute for Public Relations. She is on the board of American University, the Women Presidents’ Organization, the Museum of Public Relations, and the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Relations. She’s also past chairman and a long-serving board member of the Page Society.
“Maril has been one of the most dedicated champions of public relations,” said Dr. Tina McCorkindale, president and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations. “She is a role model for many, especially women, as she has broken through the glass ceiling and done it so well. She also builds others up through her leadership contributions and personally dedicates her time and talent to better our field.”
MacDonald is a recipient of Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame and Distinguished Service Awards and has been recognized by PR Week as one of the top 25 leaders in the industry, and one of “The 50 Most Powerful Women in PR.”
Tickets to IPR Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner
Tickets for the IPR Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner are available for $500 each. Tables of 10 can be purchased for $5,000 and premium tables of 10 are available for $10,000. The price includes a networking cocktail reception sponsored by SAIC, the awards dinner, and a Distinguished Lecture. Visit the website to learn more about the 59th IPR Annual Distinguished Lecture and Awards Dinner.
About the Institute for Public Relations
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent, non-profit research foundation dedicated to fostering greater use of research and research-based knowledge in corporate communication and public relations practice. IPR is dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations. IPR provides timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use. All research, including a weekly research letter, is available for free at instituteforpr.org.
Read the Institute for Public Relations press release here.
