Elon contingent attends Paladin Awards Ceremony in New York City

By tkopetskie, staff

June 27, 2019

Accompanied by Communications Dean Rochelle Ford, four School of Communications students and one alumna attended the PRSA Foundation’s signature event on June 25 to celebrate the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the public relations sector.

Four School of Communications students and one alumna took a break this week from their internships in New York City to join Communications Dean Rochelle Ford at the PRSA Foundation’s annual Paladin Awards Ceremony.

Four Elon students and one alumna accompanied Communications Dean Rochelle Ford to the 2019 Paladin Awards Ceremony, honoring Torod Neptune. Pictured (from left) are Janay Tyson ’19, Dean Ford, Emmanuel Tobe ’21, Amy Zheng ’20, Maggie Cornejo ’21 and Natalie Green ’21.
Held at Verizon Media headquarters, the June 25 ceremony benefited the foundation’s grants and scholarships designed to help jump-start the careers of promising students from diverse backgrounds.

Joining Dean Ford in New York were Maggie Cornejo ’21 (global brands intern, LaFORCE), Natalie Green ’21 (digital specialist intern, Planned Parenthood Federation of America), Emmanuel Tobe ’21 (insights intern, Starz) and Amy Zheng ’20 (media intern, Bloomberg LP), as well as recent graduate Janay Tyson ’19 (intern, WE Communications). Cornejo, Green and Tobe are members of the 2021 Communications Fellows cohort.

Natalie Green ’21 (back, left) and Maggie Cornejo ’21 pose for a photograph with Shelley Spector, co-founder and president of the Museum of Public Relations, and Harold Burson, co-founder of Burson-Marstellar. Burson is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the PR industry.
​The theme of this year’s awards ceremony was “Candid Conversations on Diversity & Inclusion” and the event honored Lenovo Chief Communications Officer Torod Neptune, recognizing his positive impact on advancing diversity and inclusion in the public relations industry.

Previous recipients of the Paladin Award have included Jon Iwata, Mike Fernandez, Patrice Tanaka, Harold Burson, Daniel J. Edelman, Lou Capozzi, Charlotte Otto, Harris Diamond, John Graham and Marcia Silverman.

"I was excited our Elon NYC interns were able to network with leaders of our industry and showcase the commitment Elon has to diversity and inclusion,” Dean Ford said. “Paladin Award-winner Torod Neptune is a frequent lecturer at Elon and we are grateful for his commitment to the next generation of leaders.”

PRSA Foundation

The PRSA Foundation supports outreach to diverse students to attract them to public relations and make them better prepared to contribute to the profession, and to society, when they enter the workforce through partnerships with leading universities and professional organizations. For more information regarding the foundation, visit www.prsafoundation.org.

Posted in: Alumni Student Experience

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