Award-Winning Journalist and Community Activist Patty Kruszewski Receives Top Honor from State Communications Group

Virginia Professional Communicators has named Kruszewski Communicator of Achievement for 2021

Richmond, Virginia — Patty Kruszewski, managing editor of the Henrico Citizen and safe driving activist, has received Virginia Professional Communicators’ 2021 Communicator of Achievement Award (COA). Kruszewski’s honor was announced to membership at a March 26 virtual event, and she will be honored in May at a conference the group hopes to host in person.

The COA Award is the highest honor bestowed by the state group to those members who have distinguished themselves within and beyond their profession. It is given for exceptional achievement in the communications field and service to the affiliate; NFPW, the national organization VPC is affiliated with; and the community.

“Kruszewski exemplifies the best ideals and work ethic of our profession, while serving others with compassion and grace,” said Julie Campbell, a fellow VPC member who nominated her for this honor.

“Kruszewski exemplifies the best ideals and work ethic of our profession, while serving others with compassion and grace,” said Julie Campbell, a fellow VPC member who nominated her for this honor.

Kruszewski, a 31-year resident of Chesterfield County, grew up in Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and Newfoundland, thanks to the career of her father, a Navy pilot. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in public administration from Lamar University in Texas. Before turning to journalism, she spent 30 years as a corporate wife, worked as a legislative aide to a Texas state representative, raised three daughters (Leah, Jackie, and Lanie), volunteered with PTAs, and was a self-described soccer mom.

She began her career as a community journalist in 1995, with a six-year stint with Good News Publications. In 2001 she joined the Henrico Citizen, where she has worked ever since, covering a wide range of topics and becoming the managing editor. Kruszewski has won more than 200 awards for news writing and photography from VPC, NFPW, and the Virginia Press Association.

Kruszewski became an activist for safe driving in 2012 after the devastating loss of her youngest daughter, Lanie, due to a driver who was texting. She focuses her advocacy through her work with Drive Smart Virginia (which named her a Traffic Safety Champion in 2015), Families for Safe Streets, and Bike Walk RVA, a Sports Backers program that supports infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.  She also volunteers with the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation and speaks frequently to Rotary clubs, businesses, neighborhood groups, and community organizations about road safety. For her letter about distracted driving, Kruszewski was the runner-up for the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s 2013 Correspondent of the Year award.

Kruszewski served for several years as an ambassador for the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce (now Chamber RVA). In 2008, the Chamber’s Henrico Business Council named her the Henrico Business Leader of the Year. She has served on the boards of the Coal Pit Learning Center and Henrico Police Athletic League (PAL), as well as on the Community Stations Board for WCVE-FM (now VPM — Virginia Public Media). Kruszewski also volunteers with the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation. 

In October 2017, Kruszewski educated and inspired her fellow VPC members with a talk about her activism. She handed out Angel Tags — bookmarks that feature a photo of a beaming Lanie. They feature text that asks people to perform an act of kindness and then leave the tag behind to encourage others to do the same. She also handed out magnetic bumper stickers with a message that urges drivers to put away their phones.

In November 2020, she was one of five journalists who participated in a panel discussion, “What a Time to Be a Reporter,” for VPC’s fall conference series. She discussed the importance of community journalism, her paper’s recent decision to go online only, and why she felt conducting in-person interviews (safe and socially distant, of course) was more important than ever.

Kruszewski, a longtime VPC member, advances to national competition for the COA Award, which will be presented at the NFPW conference, which is being held virtually this summer.

“I’ve known Patty for a long time, but I honestly had not recognized the magnitude of her commitment to our organization and the community until I had the pleasure of reviewing her COA nomination and putting her forward to the national competition,” said Kim Loehr, VPC member and awards chair. “She is beyond deserving.”

“I’ve known Patty for a long time, but I honestly had not recognized the magnitude of her commitment to our organization and the community until I had the pleasure of reviewing her COA nomination and putting her forward to the national competition,” said Kim Loehr, VPC member and awards chair. “She is beyond deserving.”

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