Award Presentation
June 1, 2024 | The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City

The AAF's board of directors established the Betty Riehl Excellence in Service Award in 1997 to recognize and honor employees of the AAF's member clubs, federations, districts and national headquarters.

The award is named in honor of the late Betty Riehl, who served on the staff of the American Advertising Federation for more than two decades prior to her retirement in 1995. Betty Riehl served as Executive Assistant to the President and staff liaison to the AAF's board of directors and board committees. She was respected and revered throughout the membership for her dedication to her job, her organizational skills and her grace, good humor and caring nature in addressing and responding to member needs throughout her career at the AAF. Each year, AAF members are encouraged to submit nominations for this award. The honoree will be announced during the annual, national AAF conference, ADMERICA.

 

2024 Recipient 

Cecilia Sveda

Executive Director, AAF Akron

Cecilia received her BFA in graphic design from Kent State University just as computers were coming onto the scene. That old school education has stayed with her to this day. For over three decades, she’s operated her own design boutique, Minx Design, and loves to collaborate with performing arts and nonprofit organizations. If you haven’t been treated to an ice cream meeting yet, contact her! Quite by accident, she fell into the role of secretary for AAF-Akron about 20 years ago. Things snowballed from there and she held a myriad of roles. For the last nine years, she has served as Akron’s executive director. When she is not designing or managing AAF, you’ll find her hiking and attending live theatre with her boon companion, StuART.