APCO Founder and CEO to Receive Mentorship Award

Washington, D.C. (November 1, 2012) – APCO Worldwide Founder and CEO Margery Kraus will receive the Honoring Milestones in Mentoring Award tonight in Chicago from the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama. The award recognizes leaders in the public relations industry who are dedicated to expanding opportunities for public relations students.

"I am honored to receive this prestigious award," said Kraus. "As someone who began her career as a 12th grade civics teacher, I absolutely believe that education is the key to opening hearts and minds. It’s more important than ever to encourage future generations to think big and have passion."

The Plank Center combines the education and practice of public relations to advance skills of students.

"We're pleased to recognize a leader in our industry who has displayed such a commitment to mentoring the next generation of public relations practitioners," said Dr. Karla Gower, Plank Center director.

Kraus founded APCO in 1984 and transformed it from a company with a small Washington office to a multinational consulting firm in major cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2004 Kraus led a management buy-out of her firm, making APCO one of the largest privately owned global communication, stakeholder engagement and business strategy firms in the world.

Kraus' dedication to fostering excellence in her field is evidenced through her participation on numerous industry boards, including the Council of PR Firms (Board of Directors), the Institute for Public Relations (Board of Trustees), the Arthur W. Page Society (Board of Trustees) and Public Affairs Council (past chairman).

Kraus' achievements have been recognized through a number of prestigious awards, including the Arthur W. Page Society's Hall of Fame Award, the Institute for Public Relations' Alexander Hamilton Medal for lifetime contributions to professional public relations and the Washington Business Hall of Fame. She has been named Washington PR Woman of the Year and one of PRWeek's 50 Most Powerful Women. Under her leadership, APCO Worldwide has won Agency of the Year honors from PRWeek and International Agency of the Year from The Holmes Report.

Prior to starting APCO, Kraus assisted in the creation and development of the Close Up Foundation, a multi-million-dollar educational foundation sponsored in part by the U.S. Congress. She continues to be involved with the foundation by serving on its board of directors.

Kraus is also active on other institutional and corporate boards and committees. She is chairman of the board of the Women Presidents' Organization and a trustee of Northwestern Mutual Life and American University. She sits on the advisory board of the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as the steering committee of the school's Center for Executive Women. She also serves on the advisory board of the Council on American Politics of the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.

Other 2012 honorees include Steve Harris, former VP, global communications, General Motors; Jon Iwata, senior VP, marketing & communications, IBM; Nick Ashooh, global VP, corporate affairs, Alcoa; Dr. Elizabeth Toth, professor and chair, department of communication, University of Maryland; and Ryan McShane, account executive, Taylor.

###