Rational Leadership Honored at the 2026 PRNEWS People of the Year Awards Gala

The communication industry’s prestigious recognition event in NYC brings together noteworthy people from the dynamic PR community. 

New York, NY (October 26, 2026)— PRNEWS, the communications industry’s leading source for news, education and recognition, announced its 2026 People of the Year honorees—an accomplished group of leaders, innovators and rising talent redefining the future of PR and communications. 

Representing agencies, major brands, nonprofits and the public sector, this year’s honorees were recognized for advancing the profession through bold leadership, strategic thinking and measurable impact.  

Rational is proud to announce that our Managing Director, Jay Hauck; Senior Vice President, Insights & Intelligence, Bryce Ballard; and Senior Vice President, Digital, Jake Sticka, were honored as part of the 2026 Class of PRNEWS People of the Year. The group was recognized during the Awards Gala in New York City for their exceptional leadership in strategic and digital communications.  

“This award is really a testament to the depth and breadth of talent and resources we have here at Rational, because I could not have received this honor without them,” states Hauck. “I am also grateful to our clients, who have put their confidence in all of us at Rational to deliver results under pressure.” 

“Building our Insights & Intelligence team has been one of the most rewarding challenges of my career,” says Ballard. “Having an in-house team has taken our company’s integrated campaigns to the next level. By offering real-time feedback on messaging and in-depth landscape analyses, our strategic communications and digital teams can develop the most effective campaigns to reach any audience.” 

“Pinpoint Targeting is a disruptive product by design. We’ve essentially turned traditional advertising on its head,” said Sticka. “The old model was buy scale and hope the right person sees it. With Pinpoint Targeting, we start with the people who decide and build the campaign around reaching them. We’re creating efficiency that wasn’t previously possible.” 

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About Rational 

Rational partners with clients to shape markets and move decision makers, delivering full-service marketing, strategic communications and integrated public affairs campaigns that drive measurable impact. Since 2011, our employee-owned company has built data-driven campaigns that expand and protect the commercial markets our clients depend on. Rooted in the success of a longstanding bipartisan Public Affairs practice, Rational pairs strategic communications with a cutting-edge digital technology that leverages creative excellence with AI-backed tools like Pinpoint Targeting®. 

About Pinpoint Targeting 

Pinpoint Targeting is a digital target-by-name solution that delivers precision advertising to the decision-makers who matter most. The platform direct-matches individuals to their phones, computers, tablets, and connected TVs, then delivers branded messages exclusively to those devices across their entire digital landscape. 

Pinpoint Targeting provides complete transparency with named audience lists and offers an end-to-end solution encompassing content creation, deployment, measurement, and optimization. With the ability to target audiences of any size, Pinpoint Targeting delivers surgical precision at straightforward, all-inclusive pricing.