PRMuseum Announces the 2026 NextGen Honorees

The PRMuseum is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 NextGen Awards, presented in partnership with PRWeek, recognizing five emerging communications professionals whose character, leadership, creativity, resilience, and commitment to others exemplify the values that sustain the public relations profession.

The awards, presented annually by PRWeek and the PRMuseum, recognize high-potential communications professionals who embody the character, courage, and determination of the trailblazers whose contributions to public relations were long overlooked as part of the profession's "Hidden History." Through the NextGen Awards, the PRMuseum celebrates not only emerging leaders, but also the enduring values these pioneering communicators represent.

The strongest professions are built by leaders who take the time to recognize the promise they see in others. We are grateful to the sponsors, judges, mentors, and our partners at PRWeek whose commitment makes these awards possible.

Amanda Chin

Vice President, Zeno Group
Recipient of the Inez Kaiser Creativity Award

Amanda pairs strategic imagination with an instinct for seeing opportunities others overlook. Rising to Vice President before age 30, she has earned the trust of major clients while developing talent around her. A survivor of childhood leukemia, Amanda brings resilience, curiosity and optimism to her work—qualities that make creativity more than an idea, but a way of leading.

Paula Chirinos

Account Director, GCI Health
Recipient of the Bayard Rustin Change Agent Award

Paula has made healthcare communications a vehicle for greater understanding, access and inclusion. An immigrant from Peru who became her family’s interpreter as a child, she now helps healthcare organizations communicate with clarity, cultural awareness and empathy. Her commitment to ensuring overlooked communities are heard reflects the purposeful change-making that defines her work.

Tram Nguyen

Account Supervisor, Burson
Recipient of the Esther Renteria Leadership Award

Tram is the kind of leader colleagues turn to when the stakes are highest. After immigrating to the United States as a teenager, she balanced school, work and significant family responsibilities with remarkable determination. Today, that experience informs a leadership style grounded in empathy, calm judgment and generosity—building confidence in colleagues while guiding demanding client work.

Sena Pottackal

Strategic Partnerships Fellow, Disability Belongs™
Recipient of the Wilma Mankiller Resolute Character Award

Sena has turned barriers she encountered as a blind communicator into a determination to remove them for others. Through advocacy, research and consulting, she challenges the profession to rethink disability inclusion and accessibility. Her persistence serves a larger purpose: widening opportunities for people whose talents too often encounter unnecessary obstacles.

Marco Ramirez

Account Executive, Burson
Recipient of the Lynne Choy Uyeda Trailblazer Award

Raised on a small farm in rural Arkansas, Marco is the son of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college graduate who brings a distinctive cultural perspective to his work at Burson. His creativity and initiative are matched by a commitment to mentoring emerging communicators and opening doors for young professionals who may not yet see themselves represented in the industry.

MENTORS

Awards will be given at PR Week’s 40-Under-40 event in New York City on October 21, 2026. And each winner of the PRMuseum NextGen Award will have the opportunity to receive a year of one-on-one mentoring by a current day PR trailblazer. As well as the recognition of winning and a trophy, the honorees receive a year of one-on-one mentoring by current industry leaders including David Brown, Professor and the Assistant Dean for Community and Communication, Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University; Ray Day Vice Chair, Stagwell; Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Spotify; Stacey Jones, Chief Communicator, Honeywell; and Oscar Suris, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Televisa Univision.

About the PRMuseum NextGen Awards

The PRMuseum discovered the industry’s “Hidden History” when its research into the modern practice’s earliest years revealed practitioners who had pioneered in the field but were overlooked because of their gender, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or other factors that caused them to be marginalized.

The awards are named after trailblazers in PR’s "Hidden History” who had those characteristics. Pioneers such as (left to right) Wilma Mankiller (1945–2010), who was the first woman elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and became a relentless advocate for improved education, healthcare, and housing services. Esther Renteria (1939–2007), a groundbreaking Latina journalist and civil rights advocate for social justice; Inez Kaiser (1919–2016), who was the first African American woman to own and operate a PR agency; and Bayard Rustin (1912–1987), a close advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., best known as the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, left a lasting legacy in both civil rights and LGBTQ+ history; and Lynne Choy Uyeda (b. 1938), the first PR firm in the U.S. owned by an Asian American woman and co-founder of the Asian Business Association.

THIS YEAR’S JUDGES

Entries were assessed by a panel of seasoned public relations leaders of diverse backgrounds and experience. The judges include Steve Barrett, VP, editorial director, PRWeek; Carmella Glover, President, Diversity Action Alliance; Barby Siegel, Global CEO, Zeno Group; Kim Sample, President, PR Council; Jorge Espinosa, Director, Marketing Communications, E. & J. Gallo Winery; Reuben Stern, Missouri School of Journalism, New York Program; Rachel Spielman, Chief Strategy & Change Officer, RuderFinn; Kathy Rennie, Ph.D., APR, Professor, NYU, Kim Hunter, CEO, LAGRANT Foundation; Erik Carlson, CEO, Notified; Denise Hill, Ph.D., CCO, Lowe’s (former); Shelley Spector, Co-founder and CEO, PRMuseum; and Christina Chan, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Regeneron. They reviewed nominations for evidence that the candidates have the same character as trailblazers in PR’s Hidden History and show high potential of being among the industry’s next generation of leaders and pacesetters. The judges were particularly attentive to evidence that entrants overcame obstacles in their personal or professional lives to achieve their current position.

RECOGNITION EVENT

The PRMuseum NextGen Awards will be presented this fall during PRWeek’s “40 Under 40” program in New York City on October 21.

The 2024 and 2025 Class of PRMuseum NextGen Honorees