Ready to take the next step of professional development in your communications career? Wishing you were more strategic? Think APR!

Join us for a webinar that covers what Accreditation in Public Relations is, how it can help you develop a strategic communications mindset, and how you can start your own APR journey.

Sonja Dosti, APR, Julie Prayter, APR, Kevin Strauss, APR, and Lael Wageneck, MPA, APR will explain how the three letters “APR” sets you apart from your peers, the key steps to earning the credential and share their recent experience earning their APR, with tips to jump start your own Accreditation journey as a government communicator or public relations professional.

Date: April 14
Time: 11 a.m. to noon

Cost: CAPIO members and nonmembers Free

Register

SPEAKERS

Sonja Dosti, APR
Communications Director
County Administrative Office, County of Fresno

Julie Prayter, APR
Senior Public Information Officer
Sacramento Area Sewer District

Kevin Strauss, APR
Communications Manager
Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency

Lael Wageneck, MPA, APR 
Public Information Officer
Santa Barbara County Public Works Department

BIOS

Sonja Dosti, APR

Sonja Dosti, APR is the Communications Director for the County of Fresno (County Administrative Office), which serves over one million residents.  She has more than 10 years of experience in public sector communications and PR, having served as the head of communications at Central Unified School District before moving to the County of Fresno. Prior to working in communications and PR, she worked in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles as a production, studio, and network executive.

She’s passionate about creating and sharing informative, compelling, and inspiring stories. In her first career in entertainment, she developed film and TV projects with Academy and Emmy Award-winning directors, writers, and actors including JJ Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Katheryn Bigelow, Demi Moore, and Josh Brolin, among many others.

As a Communications and PR Officer at Central Unified, her communications team won the National School Public Relations Association’s (NSPRA) 2020 Award of Excellence for a video PSA titled, The Dangers of Sexting, and the 2020 Award of Merit for the video PSA, Hoax Threats. She developed social media best practices training for staff, parents and students and created the district’s first crisis communications plan.

In her role as the Communications Director at Fresno County, she started as a team of one and expanded it to include two talented individuals, one of whom is a talented photographer and videographer and the other is a bilingual outreach and marketing specialist. Her communications team has won several awards. Both the CAO and District Attorney’s Offices received the 2023 CAPIO Epic Award of Achievement in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category for their Fresno County Fentanyl Awareness Campaign as well as the 2023 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The Juvenile Correctional Officer Promotional Video won the 2023 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production and the Fresno County Water Flows & Flood Warnings won the 2024 CAPIO Award of Distinction for In-House Video Production PSA. She and two of her colleagues won the Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communicator of the Year Award in 2024. The team’s 2024 Traffic Safety Campaign received the CAPIO Award of Distinction in the Preparedness/Public Safety Education Campaign category.

She has served CAPIO for more than three years as the Central California Regional and Membership Chair and is now the President-Elect. She’s a proud Star Wars/Marvel/DC/Harry Potter geek, women’s ministry director at her church, and loves to travel, watch movies, read books, and spend time with her family, Golden Retriever Buddy, and Doodle-mutt Chewy.

Julie Prayter, APR

Julie Prayter has over twenty-five years of experience serving in the private and non-profit sectors, in addition to the government sector at the local, state, and federal levels. She has successfully applied the principles of strategic communications and public relations in the fields of public safety, medical device patient safety advocacy, and Western water policy, management, and infrastructure.

Julie believes communication and outreach efforts are most successful when they strategize to connect and resonate with target audiences. Meeting people where they are through an omni-channel approach and leading with empathy is the key to developing audiences’ understanding of what can be complex, technical projects and concepts.

Julie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2022. She has been awarded the Public Information Officer (PIO) credential from the Center for Public Safety Excellence and is an FAA-licensed unmanned aircraft system (UAS) pilot. She has been honored to receive numerous industry awards for her communications and photography work.

Kevin Strauss, APR

Kevin Strauss, APR is the Communications Manager for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCV Water) and is responsible for all internal and external Agency communications. Previously, Strauss spent six years as a Communications Specialist with the City of Santa Clarita. During his career, Strauss has produced several award-winning public relations campaigns and recently led SCV Water’s brand relaunch initiative and crafted the Agency’s first digital media strategy. For his work, he was named the 2024 Communicator of the Year by the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO). SCV Water was also a 2024 finalist for ACWA’s Huell Howser Excellence in Communication award. When he was with the City of Santa Clarita, the Communications Division was named the 2020 Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader by CAPIO for its response to the Tick Fire and Saugus High School shooting in 2019. Prior to joining the City of Santa Clarita, Strauss worked for six years in the Athletics Department at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), first as an intern then as Assistant Sports Information Director before being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Digital Marketing. Strauss earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from CSUN. He and his family reside in Santa Clarita.

Lael Wageneck, MPA, APR

Lael Wageneck, MPA, APR is the Public Information Officer for the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department which serves over 400,000 residents. He has 20 years of experience in media production, public relations and public administration, and has presented at many CAPIO conferences on topics from photography to ethics. He is a former CAPIO President and Central Regional Chair.