The Illinois Woman’s Press Association presents the Communicator of Achievement award each year to a member who has exhibited outstanding communication skills. This year’s Communicator of Achievement is Marianne Wolf-Astrauskas, IWPA’s immediate past-president. She will be Illinois’ nominee for the National Communicator of Achievement Award presented by NFPW at its Salt Lake City confab.
During the awards ceremony of the Mate E. Palmer Professional Communications Contest, Wolf-Astrauskas took two 1st place honors, two 3rd place awards and two Honorable mentions for her writing.
Wolf-Astrauskas, who also serves as executive board secretary of the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), has been a historian, storyteller, author, editor, administrator, recruiter, collaborator, mentor, listener, and volunteer for and to IWPA members over the years. Her 30+ years of award-winning professional experience include working for an Illinois U.S. Senator and the City of Chicago in administrative capacities. Wolf-Astrauskas is also a long-time alumni regional board member for her alma mater, Illinois Wesleyan University, where she was a member of Epsilon Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, in which she develops networking and support programs for IWU’s students and alums.
Following her two terms as IWPA president, Wolf-Astrauskas plans to continue her research on the history of the IWPA and NFPW and publish her findings in book form sometime in 2014.