August 13, 2025
Lake County PR Pros Honored for Excellence and Resilience at Statewide Summit
By Kyle Coppola
Lake County PR Pros Honored for Excellence and Resilience at Statewide Summit
The Florida Public Relations Association Lake County Chapter was well represented at the recent FPRA PR & Comms Summit and gala held in Orlando, where members were honored for their public relations work, leadership and resilience.
Lake County Chapter Past President Darryl E. Owens, Associate Vice President of Communications and Engagement for Beacon College, and Mary Wymer, APR, Communications Director for Beacon College, won an Award of Distinction for the redesign of the college’s website during the FPRA Golden Image Awards, held at the Rosen Shingle Creek on Aug. 5.
The Golden Image Awards is a standard of public relations excellence in the State of Florida. The Award of Distinction in Division C – Digital Tools of Public Relations is presented to entries that meet a set standard of excellence.
This year, Lake County Chapter President Kevin Yurasek, MA, received the President’s Award for Resilience for helping guide the small but mighty chapter through leadership transitions.
Three Lake County chapter members were also recognized during the Summit’s 15th anniversary celebration of the Joe Curley Rising Leader Award. The award reflects FPRA’s commitment to developing and empowering the next generation of leaders in the public relations field.
Chapter Treasurer Nanci Schwartz, APR, CPRC; Chapter President Kevin Yurasek, MA; and Chapter Membership Chair Elisha Pappacoda were chosen to be featured on banners and video during the FPRA Annual Summit sharing how the Association has impacted their careers and cultivated their leadership skills.
The Lake County Chapter, founded in 2016, includes communications professionals from Lake and Sumter Counties who are dedicated to their personal and professional development through their participation in FPRA.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
