Nov. 13, 2024 – The Pennsylvania Public Relations Society (PPRS) has announced that Joelle Shea, Senior Corporate Marketing and Communications Manager at Gannett Fleming TranSystems, has been named the recipient of the Ernest R. McDowell Award, which recognizes excellence in public relations and community service. Shea was presented with the award at the PPRS Annual Evening of Honors held Nov. 7 at the Hershey Italian Lodge.
“This award is ultimately a recognition of the collaborative teams I’ve been a part of, both in my career and in the community, and I’m so grateful for the colleagues and mentors I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside,” said Shea.”Thank you to PPRS for the honor and for all of the important work the society does to promote and advance the communications profession in the Keystone State.”
Shea’s career spans nearly 20 years in corporate and non-profit leadership roles. At Gannett Fleming TranSystems, she is responsible for developing and executing integrated internal and external marketing and communications that support the firm’s strategic action plan and thought leadership. Her accomplishments include producing the company’s first environmental, social, and governance report and co-founding a new owned channel for the firm during COVID, the INSIGHTS webcast platform, drawing more than 40,000 attendees.
In a prior role with the PA Catholic Conference, Shea relaunched an active grassroots advocacy network and helped to build a strong in-house communications discipline. As the Bishop’s chief media spokesperson at the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, Shea developed and implemented strategies for proactively working with Catholic and secular media and established and managed diocesan presence across digital channels.
Shea is the immediate past chair of Connected Women, an employee resource group that aims to create a culture that empowers, supports, and mentors women. She also advocates for other women through her involvement with the Harrisburg Regional Chamber’s Business Women+ Advisory Committee and The Foundation for Enhancing Communities Fund for Women & Girls. In 2020, Shea was named a Woman of Influence by the Central Penn Business Journal and is a past president of the PA Public Relations Society.
Shea earned a Master of Arts in communications, culture, and technology from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in media studies from The Catholic University of America.
The Ernest R. McDowell Award is presented each year in memory of the late senior vice president of Marketing and Corporate Relations for Capital Health System – today’s UPMC. Established by PPRS in 1991, the award recognizes an individual for sustained excellence in the field of public relations — both in the profession itself and the community at large. McDowell set the standard for professionalism and community service with his lifetime example.
The Evening of Honors was sponsored by Gannett Fleming TransSystems, Triscari Video Web Marketing, Hill Communications Strategies, PRworks, DRS Printing, Roger That! Photography, and The Design Department. Photos of the event can be downloaded here.
PPRS provides education, advocacy, and networking opportunities for corporate, government, association, non-profit, independent, and agency public relations professionals across central Pennsylvania. To learn more about PPRS, visit www.pprs-hbg.org.