Heather Major, Executive Director of the IBX Foundation, and Courtney Stefan, Manager of Foundation Initiatives, pose with the PRSA awards earned by the IBX Foundation.
Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation communication efforts earned industry recognition in 2025, achieving honors in every major media category: audio, print, and video. Most recently, the IBX Foundation was honored at the Philadelphia chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) annual Pepperpot Awards ceremony on Dec. 4. This annual event recognizes outstanding work in public relations.
The IBX Foundation earned a Ladle award in the Audio and Video Programs category for its podcast, Someone You Know: Facing the Opioid Crisis Together. The series elevates the voices of those with lived experience, engaging a global audience in conversations about addiction recovery and the stigma of addiction.
In the Editorial and Op Ed Columns category, the IBX Foundation was recognized with a Ladle for its article “Utilize educational opportunities for veterans to become nurses,” published in Stars and Stripes. The authors highlighted the IBX Foundation’s Service Scholars Program – the only pathway program in the nation supporting student veterans pursuing their first degree in nursing – addressed veterans’ educational challenges and the nation’s critical nursing shortage. It was authored by Heather Major, executive director of the IBX Foundation, and Marie Ann Marino, EdD, RN, FAAN, dean and professor at Thomas Jefferson University’s College of Nursing and vice president of Nursing Academic Partnerships and Innovation atJefferson Health.
These two new awards conclude an outstanding year for IBX Foundation communications. Earlier this year, the Minnesota chapter of PRSA recognized the IBX Foundation’s Making Change Happen: Solving for Better Health docuseries for visual storytelling and multimedia at its Classics Awards.
The award-winning work was developed in collaboration with Carmichael Lynch.
