CURA’s vice president of government relations, Scott Leezer, was awarded “Most Purposeful Agency Pro” by PRWeek at the inaugural Purpose Awards in Chicago on October 16, 2019.
PRWeek U.S. launched The Purpose Awards to recognize activations that use creative ideas to further positive causes and to acknowledge the organizations and individuals behind them. The awards celebrate agencies, brands, public sector bodies, nonprofits and NGOs. Consumers and potential staffers increasingly insist on the brands they engage with and organizations they work for communicating what they believe in and standing up publicly for those values. Winning a Purpose Award honors authenticity in this crucial area.
Scott Leezer—who lives with a single ventricle heart defect and is no stranger to patient advocacy—beat out a highly competitive field of finalists in this category by demonstrating passion and commitment to making a positive impact on people’s lives, both on and off the clock. From launching a fundraising campaign for the development of a device called the Fontan Blood Pump that would extend the lives of those with congenital heart disease to advocating for policies that would expand access to care for veterans, Scott works with organizations such as Mended Hearts, Beats for Bella, Honor the Gift, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and MDxHealthto help transform health care and improve lives.
“Professionally, I think what it speaks to is not just me, and the work that I do, but the work that we all do at CURA and the values that we have engrained into our culture. CURA is Latin for care and concern for others, and that’s exactly what we stand for,” said Scott Leezer.
Among the five finalists for this category were Seema Bhende, SVP at WE, Paul Massey, Global Lead at Weber Shandwick, Michael O’Brien, MD at JPA Health Communications, and Ravi Sunnak, EVP at Porter Novelli.
This year’s chair of judges was Carol Cone, Founder Carol Cone on Purpose. “Authentic purpose shows the power of values in action. Today people want to work for, buy from and advocate for companies and brands with meaning, true meaning that is lived consistently for all stakeholders. Winners of the Purpose Awards show compelling ways to matter to stakeholders for business and societal impact. Their strategies and creative executions should inspire others to stretch for integrated, inspiring purpose executions,” said Cone.
“From Larry Fink’s CEO letter at Blackrock to the Business Roundtable statement to Levi’s petition on gun safety, purpose is front and center for the modern corporation,” said Steve Barrett, VP, editorial director of PRWeek. “The winners of PRWeek’s inaugural Purpose Awards represent the best practice case studies all enterprises should aspire to emulating.”