Jessica Soho, IABC’s ‘champion of excellent communication’

Recognizing her leadership and management role in communications excellence, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines on September 4 conferred upon GMA broadcast journalist Jessica Soho its CEO Excel Award for top-level business and organization heads. 

 

The recognition comes just two months after Soho retired as an executive of GMA Network, ending her 30 years of employment at the position of first vice president for news programs. She remains a Kapuso talent.

 

Acknowledging her as a "champion of excellent communication" to achieve business goals, IABC Philippines said Soho is a leader for good governance and responsible corporate citizenship who "inspires others to serve for the greater good."
 

IABC Philippines gives out the CEO Excel (Communication Excellence in Organization) award annually to leaders from the government, private, academic and nonprofit sectors "who epitomize management competence and excellence in communication at a strategic level."

 

It is the local chapter of the San Francisco-based IABC, a global business communication organization with some 14,000 member-professionals in over 70 countries. 

 

Awarding ceremonies were held at the Grand Ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel, Ayala Avenue, Makati City.

 

Soho said that, "It is gratifying to be recipient of the CEO Excel Award now that I have just closed the chapter of my career as a management executive. However, I believe the recognition was a result not because of my efforts alone, but of our collective resolve in GMA to aspire for accuracy, balance and objectivity in every coverage and all our reports."

 

Under her stewardship, GMA News programs such as 24 Oras and Saksi reached new heights in terms of viewership and enabled the network to go toe-to-toe with the competition.

 

Soho has been a driving force in GMA News and Public Affairs, helping the organization to win numerous awards through the years, including its recent George Foster Peabody Award for its coverage of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan).

 

She continues to anchor the State of the Nation (SONA) newscast and the Brigada public affairs show on GMA News TV, and the top-rating weekly magazine Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho on GMA 7.

 

Handed out locally since 2005, the CEO Excel Award is reserved for those at the levels of chief executive officer (CEO), president, managing director, chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO), vice president, country manager, or head of private firms, government or non-profit organizations.

 

The IABC Philippines board of trustees is comprised of senior management and communications practitioners from some of the country's top companies, such as San Miguel Corporation, Meralco, the ABS-CBN and TV 5 broadcasting networks, Holcim Philippines, Pepsi Cola Philippines, Samsung, Pru Life UK, Lopez Holdings Inc., among others. —NB, GMA News