Newsroom

UNT Health Fort Worth’s marketing and communications staff members were recognized among the region’s best at the 2025 PRSA Worthy Awards Gala, earning multiple honors for creative storytelling and strategic impact.

Presented on Nov. 7 by the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the annual Worthy Awards competition highlights exceptional work in public relations and strategic communications across North Texas.

UNT Health earned Worthy Awards, or top honors, for the “It’s in Our DNA” brand campaign and its student experience social media strategy. The large brand campaign, featuring billboards, digital and print ads, and email communications, centered on student stories that embody the values and determination of the institution. Each piece paired a student’s journey with a defining word and the tagline “It’s in Our DNA,” highlighting the university’s commitment to cultivating the next generation of health leaders. The campaign will continue in 2026 and will expand to focus on UNT Health’s extraordinary faculty and staff, in addition to its students.

The social media recognition honored the university’s use of authentic, student-created content to showcase campus life. By spotlighting real student voices through photos and videos edited in-house, the campaign boosted organic engagement, reach and follower growth across UNT Health’s social platforms.

The team also earned an Award of Achievement in the special event category for welcoming its inaugural undergraduate nursing class. The January event celebrated the arrival of the College of Nursing’s first undergraduate students with a breakfast and welcome tunnel, drawing local media coverage that highlighted both the statewide nursing shortage and the university’s expanding role in addressing it.

“These recognitions from PRSA celebrate the creativity and passion of our department and honor the outstanding accomplishments of our academic communicators across the university,” said Andy North, vice president of Marketing and Communications at UNT Health. “We take great pride in sharing stories that reflect who we are as a university and the values that drive our work every day.”

Sixty entries were submitted to this year’s Greater Fort Worth PRSA Worthy Awards. They were judged by the Orange County Chapter of PRSA on the quality of research, planning, implementation and evaluation.

UNT Health’s Marketing and Communications team members who worked on the projects were North; Paula Cobler, associate vice president of Marketing and Communications; Mike Brown, senior director, digital outreach and web; Libby Maness, associate director of communications; Alexandria Ortiz, associate director of marketing; Nicole Luna, senior communications specialist, public relations; Sarah Camacho, senior communications specialist, social media; Guillermo Gomez, senior graphic designer; Rachel Van Deusen and Erin Smith, graphic designers; Noah Whitmore, senior videographer; Quincy Burse, web interface designer; and Jacob Martella, web developer.

UNT Health academic communicators involved in the recognized campaigns were Matt Havlik, College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences; Magaly Ayala, College of Pharmacy; and Kate Lino, formerly of the College of Nursing.

• Share
• Tweet