When Erika Wilgenburg joined the San Diego City School District in 2002, Proposition MM was into year four after voters approved funds for school repairs and improvements. But little was known about its progress.

Wilgenburg was hired to increase awareness and reassurance that work was under way at schools. “There were quite a few bumps,” she says. “We didn’t have the infrastructure to build public confidence, and we caused a lot of community disruption.”

Communications between the district and residents improved quickly, and have resulted in “a positive increase in the public’s attitude toward Proposition MM,” says Janet Delaney, director of community relations for San Diego City Schools. “She developed user-friendly information and built relationships with diverse audiences.”

Reinforcing that sentiment, the Proposition MM Communications program recently won the Gold Medallion Award from the National School Public Relations Association, the highest and one of only four given to communications programs across the nation.

Wilgenburg, 32, and her husband, a CPA with Deloitte & Touche, moved here from Michigan where they met while students at Calvin College. She knew her job would end in December 2007, but they have decided to stay. “I may remain with the school district to manage an information campaign for a potential 2008 bond measure, or to serve in some other capacity for the district,” she says. If not, she will be job hunting.

Wilgenburg is active in professional public relations organizations as well as those for children with cancer. Being a survivor at the age of 10 of a rare form of cancer motivates her to volunteer.