Davis Receives Distinguished Public Relations Practitioner of the Year
May 17, 2007
Kelly Jackson Davis, APR is this year’s recipient of the South Carolina Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s (SCPRSA) highest individual honor, the W. Thomas Duke Distinguished Public Relations Practitioner of the Year Award.
The award recognizes both professional success and dedicated service to PRSA, the world’s largest professional association for public relations practitioners. SCPRSA has presented a Distinguished Practitioner of the Year Award for nearly 20 years. At this year’s Mercury Awards ceremony, held April 19 at the Columbia Museum of Art, the award was renamed for W. Thomas Duke, a legendary public relations leader retiring this month after more than 50 years of public relations practice, most recently as the Senior Public Relations Counselor at Jackson-Dawson Marketing Solutions in Greenville.
Davis is the President of Davis Public Relations and Marketing, a full-service independent communications firm based in Columbia, South Carolina. Prior to starting her own company in 2004, she held positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina, Carolina Children’s Home, The South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, SCANA and the Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University and a Master of Mass Communications degree from the University of South Carolina.
Her company represents clients in a variety of disciplines with a special emphasis on healthcare and nonprofits.
In addition to the individual award, Davis’ independent public relations firm also received the Silver Wing Best in Show Award for the Cigarette Tax Media Campaign conducted for the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative.
Her work with Columbia-based Atrium Development’s Langtree at the Lake project was recognized with the Silver Wing Awards for Press Kits and Media Relations/Consumer Products. Samples of these projects are available for viewing at www.davispublicrelations.com.
Davis is a past president of SCPRSA. She currently serves as a National Assembly Delegate for SCPRSA and as the Chair-Elect of PRSA’s Independent Practitioners Alliance. She previously received SCPRSA’s Rookie of the Year Award in 1997.
