ROCKVILLE, Md., March 4, 2025. Karen M. Greenwald, owner of The Burbank Group, LLC., won two international Marketing Effectiveness Awards (MEA). They include a BEST IN CATEGORY and a SILVER for her prowess marketing nonfiction children’s literature.
“I am thrilled to receive this extraordinary endorsement of my strategic acumen from an international array of industry experts. Competing in a global field makes the win even more meaningful,” said Greenwald. This year’s competition included 1,549 companies from ten countries. She won a BEST IN CATEGORY in Educational Marketing for efforts promoting her Kansas Notable Book, A VOTE FOR SUSANNA, THE FIRST WOMAN MAYOR in its third year. Greenwald’s picture book is the first and only one to shine a light on Salter, her community, and their shared triumph.
“Karen M. Greenwald’s Best in Category win means her work didn’t just break through the noise—it set the benchmark for marketing excellence. It means industry leaders deemed Greenwald’s work the best in its field,” said Jocelyn Luciano, Principal/Managing Director of Summit Awards.
One facet of Greenwald’s approach included PBS Kansas’ documentary, Great Women of Kansas. According to PBS Kansas Senior Producer Chris Frank, “I found Karen M. Greenwald to be a wealth of knowledge for a segment in the 2024 documentary I produced. I found her knowledge lined up with what I was learning but went even deeper. We at PBS Kansas liked A Vote For Susanna so much we included it as a pledge drive gift. I also did a lengthy virtual interview with Karen, which is included on the pledge drive DVD gift. She’s passionate and highly knowledgeable about the subjects she pursues, and it shows in her work. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to use her as a resource.”
Greenwald also won a SILVER MEA in Educational Marketing for promotional initiatives during the launch year of her second picture book, THE MUD ANGELS: HOW STUDENTS SAVED THE CITY OF FLORENCE. Again, she is the first and only author (in English) to share this important moment in history. The book tells the story of the first wave of international students (and then the waves of others) who braved hundreds of thousands of tons of mud and filth to help save Florentine antiquities. According to Alessandro Sidoti (Restauratore Conservatore di Libri rari e Manoscritti), “Karen’s The Mud Angels is a beautifully documented children’s tribute to the ‘angeli del fango’—the unsung heroes of our flood history. As Head of the Conservation Workshop at the National Central Library of Florence, I am impressed by her ability to revive this remarkable chapter with authenticity and grace.”
For over thirty years, the Summit International Awards has set the standard for exceptional creative and marketing achievements. The rigorousness of the competition can be seen in the impressive list of companies that enter. Competing at this level makes winning top prize all the more meaningful to Greenwald, “I am ardent about telling unknown or forgotten stories that help preserve cultural and historical memory. This drives me to write the picture books that I do. Winning for marketing them is both a tremendous joy and honor. I am grateful to the Summit Awards judges around the world for these incredible accolades and endorsements!”
