COA is the highest honor bestowed by Colorado Press Women upon members who have distinguished themselves within and beyond their profession. The recipient is then entered into competition with COA’s from other states for recognition as the NFPW Communicator of Achievement. This honor recognizes exceptional achievement in the communications field, service to CPW and NFPW and to the community.
Marilyn Saltzman – 2023 National & Colorado Communicator of Achievement
The morning of April 20, 1999, Colorado Communicator of Achievement Marilyn Saltzman’s life changed forever. Two armed teenagers strode into Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, and shot and killed 12 fellow students [...]
Karen Pochert Petersen, Colorado 2021 Communicator of Achievement
When the highest level of government was intent on suppressing the truth about the environmental damage inflicted by the actions of humankind, forbidding phrases such as “climate change,” “global warming,” carbon footprint,” and “greenhouse [...]
Sandy Nance, 2020 National & Colorado Communicator of Achievement
At the University of Colorado-Boulder in the mid-1960s, Sandy Michel decided to study advertising in the journalism school. First, though, she was required to take an introductory newswriting class. Her focus changed: Newswriting was more [...]
Donna Bryson, 2019 Colorado winner
Veteran journalist and award-winning author Donna Bryson decided to become a reporter in her teens – after giving up her childhood dream of being a tightrope walker! Donna’s work for The Associated Press has taken [...]
Ruth Anna, 2017 Winner
In work spanning more than 45 years, Ruth Anna has ardently defended the First Amendment and Colorado’s open records laws as a board member of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, led both CPW and [...]
Carol Anderson, 2016 Colorado Winner
Carol Anderson is Colorado Press Women's 2016 Communicator of Achievement. Her career demonstrates, yet again, that a journalism degree can take its holder into wide-ranging professional realms. Much of Anderson's career has focused on involving [...]