{"id":43307,"date":"2019-09-25T12:50:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T16:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=43307"},"modified":"2019-09-25T16:25:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T20:25:30","slug":"alumna-and-team-create-award-winning-media-relations-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/alumna-and-team-create-award-winning-media-relations-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna and team create award-winning media relations campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Eastern Mennonite University alumna\u2019s team has won PR Daily\u2019s \u201cMedia Relations Campaign of the Year (Over $50,000)\u201d award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Holsopple \u201907<\/strong> is senior programs communications specialist for Plan International USA in Washington D.C., where she leads \u201cthe promotion of our technical experts\u2019 thought leadership\u201d and assists with executive communications and brand support, she said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holsopple and her teammates Robin Costello, Bernice Morquette, Ann Wang and Patrick Maguire created the winning campaign<\/a>, which they designed to bring public awareness to its gender norms survey of youth and subsequent report The State of Gender Equality for U.S. Adolescents<\/a>. The campaign earned coverage in more than 45 media outlets including The New York Times<\/em>, The Washington Post<\/em>, Forbes<\/em>, Fortune<\/em> and Good Morning America<\/em>, and was followed by Plan-planned youth gatherings across the United States \u201cto brainstorm ideas to further gender equality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur next step is to work with youth to start advocating for the changes they want to see,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the best parts of my job is working directly with young people so they recognize the power they have to enact change and support them in areas where they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holsopple studied visual and communication arts<\/a> at EMU and earned a master\u2019s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. She became Georgetown University\u2019s assistant director of the division of communications, and then the program director for its Executive Masters in Global Strategic Communications program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n