HUNTER CEO Grace Leong was presented with PRSA's highest honor at their annual conference this week in Washington, D.C.

Upon accepting the Gold Anvil, she echoed the immortal words of her favorite baseball player, Lou Gehrig, and said, "today I feel like the luckiest woman in public relations."

Grace Leong & Ray Day
HUNTER CEO Grace Leong accepts Gold Anvil from PRSA Chair Ray Day

"We live in a time when truth is being twisted, when myths move faster than facts and when trust really feels very fragile," Leong said.

She recalled President Kennedy's warning that, "the great enemy of truth is very often not that lie that is deliberate and dishonest but the myth that is persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."

For Leong, Kennedy's words remind us that the greatest threat to truth isn't the lies we can spot, but the comforting myths we choose to believe.

She urged the crowd of almost 2,000 in the Hilton's ballroom, home to the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, to use their voices not for spin, but for service.

"Truth when told with empathy and integrity still has the ultimate power," Leong said.

Honored Barbara Hunter

Leong paid homage to the late Barbara Hunter, founder of the agency she has worked at for three decades. Hunter died at the age of 97 this past Dec.

"Communications is more than a profession, it's a responsibility," Leong said. She was thankful for finding a callling that let her, "use creative ideas, insights, words and images to solve problems, overcome challenges and bring people together."

Leong's career in PR began when she took her first plane ride to the PRSSA conference in Los Angeles four decades ago. She acknowledged how much her family has sacrificed so that she could pursue her passion.

While flattered to accept the Gold Anvil, she stressed the moment was more about the communicators, storytellers, mentors and bridge builders in the PR profession.

"Our profession is strongest when we lift each other up," Leong said.

"May we continue to use this incredible profession to elevate the truth above the myth and ensure the next generation of communicators, particularly all the PRSSA students, carry that torch even higher," Leong concluded.