Line was selected by AGEAN as their inaugural Foster the Future fellow in 2023 as a rising senior. Now a recent graduate from Brigham Young University, she works as a PR intern to track and analyze press coverage, identify trends and insights, and coordinate projects. Line has always loved writing, problem-solving, and building relationships, but found a home in PR when she realized that she could pursue all three passions full-time. She loves working to strengthen organizations from within and connecting with people from all over the world. When she’s not working, she enjoys cooking, dancing, and getting lost in a good book or documentary.

Fatoumatta Sowe is a rising senior at Cornell University, majoring in Sociology and Communications with a minor in Public Policy. She is deeply passionate about creating and implementing public relations strategies that enhance brand recognition, actively engage stakeholders, and facilitate meaningful dialogue. With a problem-solving mindset and a comprehensive understanding of contemporary challenges, Fatoumatta is dedicated to making a positive impact in the field of public relations and she is thrilled at the opportunity to learn and grow with Agean PR.

Ava Maule is a rising junior at the University of Florida studying Public Relations with a focus on corporate communications and sport management. She’s passionate about building thoughtful PR strategies that drive visibility, spark conversation and support long-term brand growth. Ava’s work blends creativity with a business mindset, and she’s especially interested in communications that sit at the intersection of sports, entertainment and culture. She’s grateful for the incredible opportunity to gain agency-side experience and grow as a young professional alongside such a talented and supportive team at AGEAN.

AGEAN was tasked with helping leverage the debut of SERHANT.’s Owning Manhattan, Netflix’s first reality show about New York City real estate to catapult the brand into the global eye. Our efforts took the #6 residential firm in NYC, leverage its top brokers and star power, and facilitate top-tier media coverage to achieve three key goals – 1) to generate widespread positive awareness for SERHANT. and the brokerage; 2) to drive viewers to Owning Manhattan on Netflix; and 3) to drive real estate sales leads to SERHANT. and their agents.

The Super Bowl is the biggest marketing event of the year, but very few brands actually purchase an in-game spot. The conversation and coverage around the Super Bowl ads along with the activations and experiences are in the media for weeks – and we were tasked with getting our client, Priceline, in the news without having an in-game ad buy.

As rumors swirled about whether Swift would make it from Tokyo to Las Vegas in time to see Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl, Priceline saw a unique opportunity to insert itself into the travel and culture conversation. They created a travel challenge to resonate with both Swifties and football fans. Priceline partnered with influencer, college sports mental health advocate and Swiftie, Victoria Browne, to shadow Taylor’s trip from Tokyo to Las Vegas – she would create content around the travel adventure and AGEAN was tasked with getting her #ErastoEndZone Challenge press coverage.

AGEAN created a press strategy to insert Priceline, a leading online travel platform, into the two biggest cultural moments of the year: Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour and Super Bowl LVIII.

Floor & Decor, a leading high-growth retailer specializing in hard surface flooring for homeowners and professionals, is a public company that has been around for more than two decades yet has never activated an external communications program. AGEAN was tasked with building awareness among its dozens of new store openings throughout 2023 and 2024, including their milestone 200th and flagship stores, with consistent coverage in local, consumer and trade press. AGEAN’s challenge was to develop an external PR program from the ground up while working with Floor & Decors internal teams – all to amplify Floor & Decor as a leading company in the retail and home design industries.

Class of 2021

Congratulations to our 2023 honorees!

Heidi Donato is the media lead for AGEAN Public Relations. Heidi’s responsibilities include creating media strategy and executing media outreach. Her primary focus is to generate publicity with national outlets from broadcast, print to online media.

She currently conducts media outreach within the travel/hospitality, consumer lifestyle and luxury categories. Over the last 20 years, Heidi has led several travel accounts representing several well-known hotel and destination brands such Priceline, Royal Caribbean, Abu Dhabi Tourism, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Albuquerque Tourism Board, Choice Hotels, Spirit Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, Crown Plaza Resorts, Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts, and the Dominican Republic Tourism Board.

Heidi spearheaded the launch of the world’s largest cruise ship for Royal Caribbean (Icon of the Seas) and lead the media team to secure more than 3.5 billion media impressions with placements resulting in The Today Show, GMA, CBS Mornings, Travel + Leisure, Forbes, Frommer’s, Newsweek, and CNN. For the Dominican Republic region, Heidi conducted national media relations on behalf of several hotel properties in Punta Cana to help rebuild the island’s reputation.

C-suite media relations is another area that Heidi has been spearheading for her clients such as Priceline, Rolls Royce, Sam’s Club, Office Depot, Dine Equity Brands, Circle K, Colgate, SONIC Drive-In, PANDORA Jewelry and Danone. Heidi has worked with top business executives and has successfully placed its CEOs, COOs, and CTOs on high-profile outlets such as CNBC (various programs), ABC World News, Bloomberg TV and Radio, Fox News, Fox Business, and CBS Mornings. She has also placed exclusive stories with high-profile print and wire outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, AP, Market Watch, Parade, and USA Today.

On a daily basis, Heidi stays on top of the latest business and consumer lifestyle trends and works closely with producers and on-air contributors to help elevate her clients’ profile within the consumer & business/investment communities.

In her spare time, Heidi is a parent advocate for special needs children and has provided her media expertise to high profile programs such as Autism Speaks and Dan Marino’s Autism Foundation to increase the awareness of the disorder in honor of her son.