Rosica Communications was named a 2026 Zenith Awards finalist for its national earned media program for Britebound.
FAIR LAWN, N.J. and BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Rosica Communications has been named a finalist in the Media Relations category of Ragan's 2026 Zenith Awards for its national education nonprofit PR program, "Career Readiness for Brighter Futures," for Britebound, a leading education nonprofit.
This recognition highlights the agency's work to raise awareness of Britebound, formerly American Student Assistance, and leverage its data and executives to build thought leadership in the areas of career exploration, alternative postsecondary pathways, and helping young people be future-ready.
In just 12 months, Rosica generated 160 earned media placements, including 90 national stories that generated 3.6 billion media impressions (not including news release distribution over wire services). This represented a 28.5% increase from the 2.8 billion impressions Rosica generated in the previous year for this client.
Rosica developed and executed a national media relations and thought leadership program focused on bringing greater attention to career exploration and hands-on learning opportunities beginning in middle school. The program targeted counselors, parents, educators, and students to better understand the range of education, training, and career pathway resources and data made available by Britebound. To support these efforts, the agency contributed PR insights to the nonprofit's research and identified compelling findings from two primary Britebound surveys: one showing growing interest in trade schools among Gen Z students and another showing that parents are becoming more open to trade schools as a pathway for their learners. Rosica successfully publicized this research through proactive media relations, which leveraged timely and compelling topics such as declining college enrollment; growing interest in the skilled trades; high-paying careers that do not require a four-year degree; and innovative ways for students to begin exploring careers at age 11 or 12.
The campaign secured 60 national top-tier business and general-interest stories, and 30 national education and human resources trade media stories. Coverage appeared in leading outlets including Fortune, Newsweek, USA Today, TIME, CNBC, Fast Company, SHRM, The 74, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Stories communicated Britebound's key messages and directed readers to its research, digital tools, and career education and workforce resources.
A central goal was to elevate Britebound's former President and CEO Jean Eddy as a national thought leader. Each year, Rosica secured dozens of high-profile interviews for Eddy, did all of the publicity around her book Crisis-Proofing Today's Learners, and landed an earned contributor opportunity for Eddy with Forbes, where she published two unpaid bylined articles per month from January through December in 2025. We then secured a Forbes Contributorship for Julie Lammers, Britebound's current CEO, when Eddy retired from her post. Rosica also developed and placed opinion articles featuring additional Britebound subject matter experts in various high-profile education and business publications.
"We're proud to support Britebound's work because young people deserve to understand all the options available to them after high school. It is rewarding to help bring national attention to an issue that can have a real impact on their futures," said Chris Rosica, CEO and President of Rosica Communications. "Being named a Zenith Awards finalist makes that work even more meaningful to our team."
Presented by Ragan Communications, the Zenith Awards honor outstanding communications, public relations, and marketing campaigns, teams, and leaders. Winners will be celebrated at the Zenith Awards luncheon in New York City on Nov. 5, 2026.
ABOUT ROSICA COMMUNICATIONS
Established in 1980, Rosica Communications specializes in nonprofit PR, education public relations, and animal health PR and communications, building its clients' share of voice and thought leadership presence. Always focused on its clients' goals and objectives, the national agency's services include integrated marketing communications, media relations, social media marketing, crisis communications, cause marketing, content development/marketing, and influencer marketing. Rosica Communications is the creator of the world's most comprehensive PR and thought leadership measurement platform, the Thought Leadership MatrixTM. This robust tool can measure more than 20 indicators of thought leadership performance, including owned, shared, earned, and paid media. For more information about Rosica Communications and its award-winning PR and marketing services, please visit www.rosica.com.
Media Contact
Hannah Lock, Rosica Communications, 1 616-886-7172, [email protected], www.rosica.com
SOURCE Rosica Communications
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