Young Members Chair Hoban named top Club volunteer

Brennan Hoban, chair of the Young Members Team, won the 2019 Berny Krug Award as the National Press Club's top volunteer. Photo: Alan Kotok.

 

A showdown between journalists and politicians in September in the National Press Club ballroom determined the best spellers in the capital.

Throughout the fall, there were sessions featuring young journalists who spoke about White House coverage, multimedia reporting and the cybersecurity beat. A party in the Reliable Source evoked the era of American history when women gained the right to vote and jazz was the music sensation sweeping the nation. There also was a visit to Lincoln’s Cottage.

A common denominator of those highlights of the Club year was the leadership of Brennan Hoban, chair of the Club’s Young Members Team. On Dec. 11, she won the Berny Krug Award for being the Club’s top volunteer.

“If you look at the Club calendar, there’s one person behind those events,” Club President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said of Hoban at the Club’s annual Vivian Awards ceremony and Winter Reception.

The young members category of Club membership is for journalists and communicators who are 36 years old and younger. It is a fast-growing Club demographic. The Young Members Team consists of about 25 journalists and communicators who organize events and other programming for the cohort.  

“The Young Members were so vibrant this year,” Kodjak said in an interview. “I was so impressed.”

Hoban, communications manager at the Brookings Institution, has been a Club member for four years. This was her first year heading the Young Members Team.

“The best part of being part of that team is the energy they all have,” Hoban said. “I’m exited to see where they go as they progress in their careers.”

Although the group is called the Young Members Team, it doesn’t have an age limits for its events. Recently, a 72-year-old Club member attended.

“If you’re young at heart, you’re welcome,” Hoban said. “I didn’t ID everyone at the door.”

Donna Leinwand Leger won the other top award, the John Cosgrove Award, for outstanding leaderhship by a former Club president.

In addition to the Krug and Cosgrowe Awards, Kodjak bestowed 75 Vivian Awards. Named after Vivian Vahlberg, the Club’s first female president, they recognize exemplary volunteer service to the Club.  

The 2019 Vivian Award winners were Alicia Mundy, Carmen Russell, Will Lester, Doug Harbrecht, Gil Klein, Menachem Wecker, Paul Merrion, Amanda Macias, Rachel Oswald, John Donnelly, Wes Lowrey, Mark Hamrick, Mike Hempen, Adam Konowe, Brennan Hoban, Cheriss May, Alan Kotok, Lori Russo, Donna Leinwand Leger, Mark Schoeff Jr., Gillian Rich, Aileen Schlef, Elissa Free, Matt Schudel, Sarah Breger, Viola Geiger, William Earle, Claude Porsella, Ryan Flynn, Sweta Chakraborty, Mike Fulton, Karen Addis, Joseph Luchok, Glenn Marcus, Ed Barks, Margaux Ewen, Courtney Radsch, Bill  McCloskey, Irv Chapman, Abigail Cruz, Janel Forsythe, Becky Little, Nikki Schwab, Bailey Vogt, Marshall Cohen, Victoria Gaither, Al Teich, Bill Lord, Bob Weiner, David Anderson, Aaron Cohen, Ellyn Ferguson, Betsy Fischer Martin, Jamie Horwitz, Frank Maisano, William Pierce, Chuck Porcari, Michael Smith, Kevin Wensing, Tyler Weyant, Lorna Aldrich, Bill Miller, Bill McCloskey, Jonathan Salant, Heather Forsgren Weaver, Wes Pippert, Ken Dalecki, Chris Teale, Kristina Groennings, Louise Walsh, Justin Duckham, Michelle Amber, Larry Feinberg, Mark Krikorian and Eleanor Herman.