Local Journalist Honored with National 2022 AWC Clarion Award

By the Association of Women in Communications (AWC), Santa Barbara Chapter

Local publisher and journalist Bonnie Carroll was presented with a 2022 Association for Women in Communications Clarion Award at the October AWC National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, along with over fifty other national award recipients including the International Matrix winner, Tara Gatewood, and the International Crystal Award winner Wolters Kluter. These coveted awards are judged by a panel of seven AWC judges from around the country.

Bonnie Carroll’s Life Bites News’ work as editor of a non-profit online-print newspaper or newsletter “Successful Aging” won a 2022 Clarion Award which was presented to her by Anita K. Parran, Association for Women in Communication National Chair at the organizations national fall conference in Kansas City, Missouri. “It is such an honor to have this outstanding panel of judges view my work and honor me with a Clarion Award. I am so incredibly grateful”, said Carroll.

In 2019, Carolyn Jabs, AWC Santa Barbara’s Past President presented Ms. Carroll, Publisher of Bonnie Carroll’s Life Bites News, with the Member of the Year Award during the group’s December Holiday Celebration held at Uncorked Wine Tasting & Kitchen. Mrs. Jabs said, “Bonnie is an exceptional communicator who spontaneously uses her skills on behalf of our organization. A consummate professional, she takes advantage of new technologies to tell the stories of places and people that capture her attention.

Bonnie Carroll

Under the banner of her monthly award-winning online lifestyle magazine, Ms. Carroll has also produced her own radio show. She has continuously contributed to a variety of national and international travel and lifestyle publications as well as local publications, including LivingBetter50.com, GettingOnTravel.com, Food & Beverage International Magazine, Santa Barbara Daily Sound, Montecito Messenger, Food & Home Magazine, SB Seasons Magazine, Noozehawk.com, Edhat.com as well as doing occasional radio/TV appearances.

In 2004 she was presented a proclamation by Mayor of Beverly Hills Mark Egerman for planning, implementation and securing partnership participation from Ka’anapali Beach Resort Association for the highly successful Beverly Hills Farmer’s Market 10th Anniversary Chili Cook-off and Hawaiian Festival, as well as reporting as a food writer, food columnist and radio show host of “Bonnie Carroll’s Life Bites News” CRN radio show.

Often, she serves as a judge at prestigious food festivals and was a coordinator for the first Basil Festival in Malibu and was honored by the Mayor of Beverly Hills for coordinating the City of Beverly Hills Hawaiian Festival and Chili Cookoff. As an appointed member of the LAOOC public relations commission and owner of BCPR a boutique public relations firm, she was selected to co-manage the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee’s press operations at Pepperdine University and traveled with the Gold Medalists on a historic tour following the Olympics. She has produced award-winning events for groups in Malibu, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and was on the executive board of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce, chairing the Malibu Ambassadors group. Ms. Carroll currently aids local organizations with their publicity needs, including Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee, as well as restaurants and chefs.

As a photojournalist, she has published stories of her travel adventures around the world and hopes to cruise Antarctica on the newly launched Viking Octantis as well as go air ballooning over Cappadocia, Turkey. Her first children’s book was published in 2002 and she has plans to release a second book in 2023-24.

Ms. Carroll works and lives in Santa Barbara, is the mother of four, grandmother of three and great grandmother of two little boys, and many of them have collaborated with her over the years or have just provided great inspiration for past and current endeavors and travels.

The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is the premier organization for empowering women with the strength, support, and tools for elevating a career and becoming an agent of change in the industry. AWC is a network of like-minded women who are genuinely invested in helping members reach their potential and is a strong national network of communicators in a broad range of disciplines. For Santa Barbara membership information visit: www.awcsb.org.