Oklahoma City firm Jones PR named finalist in National PRWeek awards for advocacy


PRWeek has announced that Jones PR, a leading integrated communications and public affairs agency based in Oklahoma City, is a finalist in the prestigious U.S. awards competition for work with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) in the Non-Profit Campaign of the Year category.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in New York City at the famous landmark Cipriani Wall Street on the evening of March 17, 2016.

The NDSS communications campaign, launched by Jones PR, supported the historical passage of the “Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act” at the conclusion of the 113th U.S. Congress. The ABLE Act allows individuals with disabilities to save in tax-free savings accounts to cover expenses like housing, transportation, postsecondary education, job supports and other costs related to the disability without jeopardizing federal benefits.

“The ABLE Act is the most significant disability-related law that Congress has passed in 25 years, and one of the most bipartisan laws to come before Congress in a long time. Even with 85 percent of the entire Congress supporting the ABLE Act, we needed the national strategic communication and advocacy plan deployed by Jones PR to complement the grassroots pressure to members of the 113th Congress,” said NDSS President Sara Hart Weir.

According to PRWeek, Jones PR may be the first Oklahoma agency to ever be a finalist in these highly coveted awards in an intense competition.

The NDSS account team included Jones PR President Brenda Jones Barwick, APR; Vice President/Public Affairs and Consumer Marketing Joshua Harlow, Manager/Public Affairs Suzanne Singleterry and Senior Account Executive/Consumer Marketing Taylor Ketchum.

“We are honored to be a finalist among some of the largest and most successful non-profit campaigns in the past year, and most importantly, make a positive impact on thousands of families in our country,” Mrs. Barwick said in a statement provided to The City Sentinel. 

Active in public policy and community leadership since the Reagan years, she was recently named a national “headliner” by the Association of Women in Communications.

The PRWeek U.S. Awards celebrate the best corporate, agency, nonprofit and education work produced during the awards’ annual entry period. An elite panel of 83 judges from the top public relations agencies nationwide review, discuss and score each entry based on research, strategic planning, creativity and results. The judges select the top five finalists in 31 categories.
“Our account teams are some of the best in the country and this honor truly represents the high-caliber of work we are performing on a day-to-day basis for respected organizations in Oklahoma, our region and truly across the country,” said Harlow, in comments issued from the Jones PR headquarters in the downtown Oklahoma City.

Jones PR was formed in 2001 and has become a leading national integrated communications and public affairs agency with international partners through PROI Worldwide (www.proi.org). Jones PR leads a digital trend in Oklahoma with its new domain – www.jones.pr. The agency provides a range of services in traditional, digital and social media for national corporations and associations.