FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 13, 2025

Contacts: Helen S. Plotkin, NFPW Professional Contest Director, haplotkin@outlook.com

Lisa Volz, NFPW Executive Director, lisa@nfpw.org, 1-859-496-1289 More information: www.nfpw.org

National Federation of Press Women announces national
professional communications contest award winners

Communicators from throughout the United States were honored September 13 when the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) announced the winners of its 2025 Professional Communications Contest as the final event of the organization’s 2025 National Conference in Golden, Colorado.

Almost 2,000 entries were submitted in this year’s contest including entries from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa. Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Spain.

“The NFPW professional communications contest puts a spotlight on outstanding entries from throughout the United States,” said Helen S. Plotkin, NFPW professional contest director. “Our judges continue to comment about the high quality of entries they judge in the contest. The entries showcase outstanding work and exceptional efforts.”

The following award recipient was honored during the 2025 NFPW Communications Contest Awards celebration.

 Pat Szpekowski, President, PR Strategies & Communications, Inc./PmS advertising, inc. of  Algonquin, IL.

Category: 3^rd Place – Supplement edited by entrant; Hometown Holiday Happenings/Shaw Media;     Honorable Mention: (2) – Specialty Articles – Food – Behr Den a Rockford Classic – Northwest Quarterly Magazine; and Business – Marketing Simple Client Engagement – Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.

NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television. A distinguished group of professional journalists, communications specialists and educators judged entries in a wide variety of categories. Only first-place winning entries at the state level are eligible to enter the national contest. All entries were published or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024.