And the Awards Go To...

In Category A. Newspapers, it was a tie! The winners are:

VoiceCorps Reading Service (Columbus, Ohio)

Program Name: Columbus Business First

Talent/Reader: John Proffitt

Audio Engineer: Jack DeVoss

Producer: Amy Billerman

​

AfterSight (Louisville, Colorado)

Program Name: The Colorado Sun

Talent, audio engineer, and producer: Bill Bass

​

And an Honorable Mention for:

Audio-Reader (Lawrence, KS)

Program Name: The Sunflower Dailies

Talent/Reader: Doug Heacock

Audio Engineer: Colin Halliburton

Producer: Nick Carswell

​

In Category B. Consumer Information/Public Information:

Vocal Point (Atlanta, Georgia)

Program Name: Assistive Catalogs

Talent/reader: Lauren McDowell

Producer and audio engineer: Eric Singer

​

In Category C. Magazines, there was another tie! The winners are:

Nashville Talking Library (Nashville, Tennessee)

Program Name: National Geographic 

Talent/Producer: Virginia McCuen

Audio Engineer/Producer: Ben Weddle

​

Audio-Reader (Lawrence, KS)

Program Name: The Children's Hour

Talent/Reader: Michael Gier

Audio Engineer: Colin Halliburton

Producer: Nick Carswell

​

In Category D. Book Program/Short Stories:

Audio-Reader (Lawrence, KS)

Program Name: "Whirlwind: My Life Reporting the News" by Bill Kurtis

Talent/Reader: Bill Kurtis

Audio engineer/Producer: Nick Carswell

​

And an Honorable Mention for:

Sight Into Sound (Houston, TX)

Program Name: "Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles

Talent/Reader: Linne Freeman

Audio engineer/Producer: Jim Martinez

​

In Category E. Dramas:

Audible Local Ledger (Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

Program Name: "The War of the Worlds"

Ledger Actors Workshop Ensemble are the talent and audio engineers
Producer: Eric Joseph

​

In Category F. Interview/Call-in/Discussion:

AfterSight (Louisville, Colorado)

Program Name: Blind Level Tech

Talent, audio engineer, and producer: Evan Starnes

​

In Category G. On Location Program/Audio Description:

Sight Into Sound (Houston, TX)

Program Name: Jesse H. Jones Nature Center Audio Trail

Talent/Reader: Amanda Hughes-Horan and Alicia Mein-Johnson

Audio engineer/Producer: Jim Martinez

In Category H. Now Hear This, there was a three-way tie! The winners are:​

MindsEye Radio (Belleville, Illinois)

Program Name: Babies Down, Bottles Up! PSA

Talent and producers: Kisha, Terrin, Josselyn, and Danny

Producers and audio engineers: Mike Curtis and Jonathan Milam

​

Audio-Reader (Lawrence, KS)

Program Name: Fabulous Fifties Promo

Talent/Reader: Dr. Carl Graves

Audio engineer/Producer: Nick Carswell

​

Audio Reading Service (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

Program Name: One Country One Book Promo

Talent and audio engineer: Christy Kuziensky

Producer: Mark Lahey

​

And two Honorable Mentions for:

VoiceCorps Reading Service (Columbus, Ohio)

Program Name: 50 Year Anniversary PSA

Talent/Reader: Matt Stickhousen

Audio Engineer: Jack DeVoss

Producer: Amy Billerman

​

Cincinnati Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired  (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Program Name: Happy Holidays 2025 Promo

Talent/Reader: CABVI's President & CEO Teri J. Shirk

Audio Engineer/Producer: Katherine Mussio

​

The final award given out at the 2026 Virtual IAAIS Conference was the most prestigious recognition available; an award named after IAAIS founder:

​

The 2026 C Stanley Potter Lifetime Achievement Award goes to... Andrea Pasquale!

 

With over 40 years in commercial radio and non-profit radio reading services, Andrea has been a champion for excellence in journalism, quality radio, and accessibility services for people with disabilities.

​

Pasquale began volunteering in radio reading services in 1995 at Connecticut Radio Information System (CRIS). She eventually became the Executive Director of CRIS. In 2007 she moved to Arizona as the Manager of Programming and Volunteers for Sun Sounds of Arizona. She became the Director of Sun Sounds in 2016.

During her entire career Andrea advocated for people of all backgrounds to contribute to all levels of program production. She advocated for listeners to receive all services that would allow them to participate in their communities. She encouraged and supported the volunteers and staff who worked with her. She treated everyone as a part of her team and cheered them on and celebrated their successes. She was kind and direct when there needed to be improvements.

​

Even though she retired in 2025, she keeps tabs on topics and issues that can affect radio reading services, accessibility matters, and community connections on many levels.

​

Please join us in congratulating Andrea Pasquale as the 2026 recipient of the C. Stanley Potter Lifetime Achievement Award and all of our 2025 Program Award recipients! We also thank the judging stations who received the nominations. 

​

Congratulations to our award winners and to all IAAIS members stations for another excellent year of programming.​