The Paragon Awards were created in 1983 to encourage members to strive for public relations excellence. The awards recognize outstanding work in the area of public relations, honor creative and strategic excellence, and encourage a higher level of performance among public relations professionals.
The 2022 Paragon Awards Luncheon will be on Thursday, May 26 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the Marcus Performing Arts Center in the Bradley Pavilion.
2022 Communicator of the Year Winner
Jodie Tabak is the assistant director of reputation management at Northwestern Mutual where she helps lead issues and crisis management across internal and external audiences to protect the company’s reputation. She provides strategic communications counsel and assists with issues triage, contingency planning, company positioning and media relations.
Prior to her role at Northwestern Mutual, she served as Mayor Barrett’s chief of staff where she led the 12-person Mayor’s Office and provided guidance and direction to the Mayor’s Cabinet of 23 members. She was Milwaukee’s first female chief of staff.
Mayor Barrett appointed Jodie as special assistant upon taking office in April of 2004. He subsequently tapped her to be communications director in 2009. In that role, she oversaw all of the Administration’s external and internal communications, directed strategic communications outreach on policy matters and managed the City’s crisis communications and message development. Jodie also served as project lead on several high-profile Barrett Administration initiatives, including the Democratic National Convention.
Prior to joining the administration, Jodie was in the marketing and communications department at the Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
Her career began with the Muscular Dystrophy Association where she held various positions.
Jodie graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in journalism.
She is an active volunteer with numerous organizations. Jodie and her husband, Dave, live on the east side of Milwaukee with their two boys, Jacob and Zachary.
2022 Dorothy Thomas Black Award Winner
H. Carl Mueller has worked for more than 30 years as a journalist, marketing, public relations, media and governmental affairs executive. In addition to managing client projects and the work of the firm’s talented professionals, Carl has served as a manager and advisor to a Wisconsin Governor, several university presidents, a Wisconsin Congressman and chief of staff to the Mayor of Milwaukee.
Carl is founder and chairman of Mueller Communications, which provides clients with marketing, public relations, media and governmental affairs services, issues and crisis management and internal and external communications programs.
Carl worked for ten years as a newspaper reporter and editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel and The Paper for Central Wisconsin. As a newsman, he won national recognition for his work and served as a board member and president of the Society for Professional Journalists.
An active member of his community, Carl currently serves on the Board of Governors and as treasurer of the Milwaukee Press Club. He is also a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Counselor’s Academy. He has held numerous previous roles with notable local organizations. He served as a board member and president of A Wisconsin African Relief Effort (Project Aware). He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Milwaukee Urban League, Children’s Outing Association (COA), Jewish Family Services (JFS) the UW-Milwaukee Alumni Association, the UWM Foundation, Bay View Lions Club, and Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast.
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Carl has done graduate work at both the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also received professional training at the American Press Institute at Columbia University, Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and the Big Ten Fundraisers Institute.
Registration is now closed.
Questions please contact Joette Richards at prsasewi@gmail.com.
Special thanks to our corporate table sponsors:
