Lauren Gongora, BODEN

Embracing markets large and small is crucial in public relations.

For Lauren Gongora, that hybrid vision has brought significant success—and a well-earned place in Ragan and PR Daily’s Communicators of the Year Awards Hall of Fame.

Gongora oversees key accounts in Boden’s portfolio, including Target and McDonald’s, and is an integral part of the business development team. She pitched and won the Target Hispanic PR AOR business and has expanded the business from one category to nine total.

Working with McDonald’s to engage its key Hispanic consumer segment, she led the development of a communications and social media program focused on music, sports and education. The campaign aligns McDonald’s as a facilitator of memory-making moments that celebrate Hispanic passion points. 

It generated 306 media placements totaling 266.8 million impressions and 404 earned influencer posts totaling 121.9 million earned influencer impressions. In 2019, it resulted in 271 earned media placements, totaling 82.3 million impressions and 464 earned influencer posts, which generated 157.3 million impressions.

Gongora spearheads communications and stakeholder strategies to reach cross-cultural . Her deep understanding of and commitment to the Hispanic consumer market and the industry as a whole, paired with keen strategic thinking, have been significant in securing new business.

She has led the development of thought-provoking and engaging presentations for industry events, including Hispanicize, Multicultural Retail 360 Summit, Portada Marketing & Advertising Summit, We All Grow, and industry professional meet-ups coordinated by the Hispanic Public Relations Association.