IABC Chicago wishes a hearty congratulations to Mary Hills, ABC, MComm, Six Sigma, who became one of only 58 IABC Fellows in the world at the 2016 IABC World Conference in New Orleans. This designation is the highest honor IABC gives to its members and is awarded to communication professionals for exceptional leadership and service to the organization and profession.
In her acceptance speech, Mary explained her greatest accomplishments with IABC. “In particular, my time working with accreditation, the Corporate Accreditation Program and developing the Global Standard of the Communication Profession were opportunities to not only strengthen the resolve of a communication professional as a business asset, but to work with the most amazing people dedicated to communication excellence.”
Why did Mary first join IABC? She explained that the international component was something she needed and couldn’t get from other professional organizations. She often remarks that when she joined IABC it felt like “coming home.”
Highlights of Mary’s Accomplishments
Mary Hills ABC, is an international marketing and communication professional. Mary has served IABC in many ways, including:
- For IABC Chicago, she served as Director of Accreditation, Director of Strategy and Director of Marketing.
- Mary served IABC as a member of the Accreditation Council and the Career Roadmap Committee (CRM), including spearheading the CRM initiative that resulted in the Global Standard of the Communication Profession. Most recently, she worked with the Global Alliance.
- She is the recipient of the 2012 IABC Chairman Award and 2015 IABC Chicago Karen Utterback Award.
“Mary helped us understand and become brand champions, for the association and our organizations,” said former IABC Chicago President Diane Laux, MSC, ABC. “Mary approaches everything with an entrepreneurial drive. She is a professional and a mentor.”
Mary is Principal of HeimannHills Marketing Group, a global consulting firm that works with companies and business units undergoing significant evolution and change. She has held leadership positions with responsibility for developing plans and schemas to support long term growth and sustainability goals in top Chicago-based companies. In addition, as Visiting Professor in the Keller Graduate School of Management’s MBA program and Adjunct Faculty at Loyola University’s MS Global Strategic Management Program, Mary develops and teaches relevant, practical courses using experiential pedagogy. She makes a point of staying current on business management, communication trends, issues and techniques, bringing her experience into the classroom with passion and excitement.
Criteria for the Fellow Designation
IABC Fellow nominees are considered based on:
- Outstanding contributions to the organizational communication field and profession
- Their body of work and career achievement
- Authorship, speaking and lecturing
- The impact they’ve had on IABC, whether global or specific to a region
Cheers to Mary!