St. Bonaventure alumna Julie (Kalata) Sheedy has been recognized by PR NEWS for her communications work during the pandemic as the chief marketing and engagement officer at Loretto.

Sheedy has received the 2020 PR NEWS Top Women in PR Award, recognizing her work this past year to communicate with thousands of frontline healthcare employees, nursing home residents and their family members, county/state/federal officials, and other partners throughout the pandemic.

Sheedy leads all internal and external communications throughout Loretto, the largest long-term care organization in New York state. She also oversees Loretto’s charitable Foundation.

Sheedy, who lives in Syracuse, is a 1990 journalism and mass communication graduate of St. Bonaventure. She serves on the university’s School of Business Advisory Council.

Many of this year’s award recipients shared a number of traits, including the ability to think outside the box to create new programs that drive business results, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.

Under Sheedy’s leadership, Loretto entered the pandemic with a commitment to proactive communications. This included communicating with all staff through the channels that actually worked for them, at the times that worked for them, as well as proactive and frequent communication with the family members of residents at Loretto, and saying yes to every media inquiry, for which Sheedy was almost always the spokesperson.

In fact, she been recognized by local media for her responsiveness, transparency, and overall communications. In addition, her efforts have been published as successful case studies by PR News throughout the past year.

Sheedy also volunteered her communications expertise to organizations that she has brought into partnerships with Loretto, including the Alzheimer’s Association, United Way, YWCA and Central New York Diaper Bank.

Read more about PR NEWS Top Women in PR Award at https://www.prnewsonline.com/go/top-women-in-pr-2020/.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. In 2020, St. Bonaventure was named the #2 regional university value in New York and #3 in the North by U.S. News and World Report.