Deborah S. Saline, APR, Fellow PRSA and Principal & COO of PRworks, Inc., a Harrisburg-based public relations firm, was named one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business” in 2008. Saline’s selection for the award, a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and business journals from across the state, was based upon her professional accomplishments, community involvement and advocacy on behalf of women. Winners were selected by an independent panel of judges.
A founding partner of an award winning strategic communication firm in Harrisburg, Saline is a senior level public relations and marketing executive with more than 30 years of communications experience. Her expertise crosses multiple industries with an emphasis on healthcare and higher education. She is a respected leader in her field and generously shares her strategic vision, analytical and leadership skills and wealth of communication knowledge as a mentor, teacher and through her leadership in several Central PA non-profit boards.
Saline began her public relations career in the midstate in 1972 at Central Pennsylvania College. Before joining PRworks in 2004, Saline held high level communications and public relations positions at the Pennsylvania Nurses Association, Penn State’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and The Hospital & Health Systems Association of Pennsylvania.
In 2004, she earned one of the highest awards in the public relations profession when she was elected to the College of Fellows, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), based on her individual achievement and advancement of the profession. She is one of just 445 out of the nearly 22,000 members of the PRSA to earn this honor. Her contributions to the profession include leadership roles in the PRSA at both the local and national level. In 1998 her peers recognized her with the Central PA PRSA chapter’s highest honor, the Leuschner Award for Excellence in Public Relations. She received the Ernest R. McDowell Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the profession from the Pennsylvania Public Relations Society in 2005.
Saline has taught college and graduate level courses in public relations and journalism throughout the midstate and has mentored numerous individuals. She also volunteers with organizations that reflect her interest in health and community including the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania Rural Health Association.
As a tireless advocate for professional development of women she has helped launch several initiatives with this aim. She recently served on the steering committee and co-chaired the marketing for the 2008 Business Women’s Forum, the largest day-long professional development event for women in Pennsylvania. She is a founding member of the West Shore Chamber’s Women in Business Roundtable established in 2005 to address issues facing businesswomen, and she is a member of the leadership circle and advisory committee that created the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) of the United Way of the Capital Region (UWCR) in 2004. WLN is a network of women leaders who invest in the UWCR, educate women about the importance of philanthropy, and engage women in leadership activities.
The 50 Best Women in Business, now in its 13th year, was developed to honor women who share a commitment to business growth, professional excellence and the community. The award recognizes the state’s most dynamic and distinguished women in business today.
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