A view from the top: Highlights from Ragan’s 2026 Zenith Awards luncheon

Communicators, marketers and PR professionals spend a lot of their time highlighting other people and their work. For one afternoon, the tables turned.

At Ragan’s 2026 Zenith Awards at The Edison Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, communicators, PR pros and marketers gathered to celebrate excellence and achievement in their respective spaces.

“The campaigns and work we’re honoring today originated long before your award entry,” Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications said. “It started with a question someone was willing to ask, an idea someone had to defend, a tough conversation, a laugh cry, and a team that challenged each other, trusted each other, and kept going long after the first good idea.”

She added that the Zenith Awards are a tangible recognition of the sometimes unsung work that comms, PR and marketing accomplish behind the scenes.

“You and your team have really demonstrated your value,” Schwartz said. “But that is for tomorrow. Today, relish the moment and the time together. Communicators are very good at making everyone else look good. So today, let us return that favor and congratulate yourself and your teams and the people back at the office doing the hard work.”

Hear from the honorees

When they accepted their awards on stage in front of their peers, honorees were asked to share their response to one of several prompts.

“The unsung hero behind all this work is the creative insights and paid media teams at our organization,” Caleb Barnhart, managing director at Narrative Strategies as his team took home the Agency of the Year award. . “We’re so proud of the impact we’ve made.”

Laura Fehlhafer, director of communications at Impact Alamance, also honored those behind the scenes.

“The unsung heroes are the teachers, volunteers and nonprofit leaders who are working day in and day out to make our community a place where everyone can thrive,” she said. “We’re thankful for their partnership and honored to share their stories and impact.”

Jordan Lawrence, senior vice president at DKC Public Relations, spoke about a decision her team made early in their planning process during the promotion of the Ken Burns documentary “The American Revolution” that paid off down the line.

“We determined early on that in our divided media landscape, we should try to speak to everyone about our shared history,” Lawrence said. “We were able to do that in no small part due to Ken’s abilities as a communicator.”

Words from ascendant comms and marketing pros

In addition to honoring campaigns and individuals at the top of their fields, the event also recognized younger comms and marketing pros for their achievements.

Zenith Award Rising Star honoree Max Spielman, AI strategist and account executive at Ruder Finn, shared the best advice he’s received so far in his career.

“Talk with as many people as you can and put yourself in as many situations that you wouldn’t normally be in because you can learn a lot from yourself and others as well,” he said.

Olivia Clarke, social media and PR specialist at Nebo, explained how her father’s advice had shaped her journey.

“Never stop learning,” she said. “The most successful people are always looking for ways to learn, challenge themselves and keep growing.”

The top Zenith Award winners

The communications professionals organizations of the year were honored for all-around excellence in their careers. Each shared the lessons that will propel them into 2027.

Natalia Rodrigues, manager of public relations at Carnival Cruise Line, said that she’ll remember to appreciate the small moments.

“I think everybody here knows more than anyone how evolving our landscape is and how quickly we move on to the next project, so don’t always get to take a beat,” she said. “We just really need to appreciate the work that we’re doing now.

Rachel Spielman, chief strategy and change officer at Ruder Finn, shared advice from her mother, Ruder Finn CEO Kathy Bloomgarden.

“She doesn’t see titles; she sees people, and she treats every interaction with equal respect and curiosity,” Spielman said. “She asks herself the same questions she asks of everybody else: ‘What new tools can I learn? What can I do differently? How can I do more? What can I do that’s never been done before?’ And her belief in human potential is awe-inspiring, especially today in the age of AI.”

 Check out the full list of Zenith Award winners here.

Sean Devlin is the senior internal communications editor at Ragan. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.