Final deadline for eligible multicultural communications campaigns is Aug. 7.
The clock ticks. The deadline looms. The early-bird discounts flew away. Your competitors submitted on time.
Keep calm. Your campaign still has a chance to win a 2026 HPRA ¡BRAVO! Award.
Agencies, brands and nonprofits have until Aug. 7 to enter their work. You’ll need to pay a late fee. Then again, bragging rights rarely come free.
In a recent LinkedIn post, HPRA National President Sonia V. Diaz offered a succinct way to evaluate whether your work belongs in the competition:
“If your team has produced work that’s moved audiences, advanced our communities, or raised the standard for communications, now is the time to enter,” Diaz wrote.
Does that sound like your campaign? If so, you may have more of a contender than you think.
Here’s a closer look at the key dates and award categories:
Campaign Eligibility Period
Entries must cover work that ran between Jan. 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026.
Award Categories
The 2026 competition covers nearly every corner of contemporary communications.
The Digital or Media Platform PR Program category recognizes campaigns using social media, blogs, podcasts, text campaigns, websites and other digital channels.
Film, Music & Entertainment includes work involving productions, talent, events and cultural moments, while Healthcare & Nutrition covers campaigns promoting health services, access, nutrition and public health issues.
The Influencer Engagement category recognizes campaigns that used creator relationships to connect with audiences. Integrated Marketing Communications honors work combining public relations with advertising, experiential, social, digital or other marketing channels.
Additional categories include:
- Internal Communications Program: Programs created for employees, members or other internal audiences.
- Lifestyle: Campaigns involving food, beverages, beauty, wellness, fashion and lifestyle experiences.
- New Product/Service Launch: Work introducing or promoting products and services to Hispanic or Latino audiences.
- Nonprofit Campaign: Awareness, engagement, fundraising and public education initiatives.
- Public Affairs Campaign: Campaigns seeking to influence policy, legislation, civic engagement or public opinion.
- Social Equity: Work addressing inequities in health, education, wealth, justice or media representation.
- Sports: Campaigns involving teams, athletes, events and partnerships connecting with Latino fans.
The program also recognizes an Agency of the Year. Agencies competing for that honor must enter at least one campaign category.
The range of last year’s winners offers a glimpse of how varied the work can be. Recognized campaigns included a multicultural rollout for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, a lifestyle campaign built around Tajín, communications supporting the Latinas in Tech Summit, Telemundo’s internal campaign for the Paris Olympics and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Fritanga podcast.
A New Path to Campaign of the Year
One change for 2026 gives every eligible entrant an additional opportunity for recognition: HPRA will automatically consider all eligible category submissions for Campaign of the Year at no added cost. Entrants do not need to prepare a separate submission or pay another entry fee.
The honor will go to the highest-scoring campaign across eligible categories. An independent panel of senior communications professionals representing agencies, brands, academia and nonprofit organizations will judge the entries. These judges will evaluate creativity, planning, execution, cultural depth and measurable impact.
HPRA will announce the finalists on Sept. 15.
Awards That Support the Next Generation
The ¡BRAVO! Awards do more than recognize established agencies, brands and communications professionals. The program also helps fund scholarships for emerging talent.
Since its inception, HPRA has awarded more than $41,000 in scholarships to 13 recipients.
The annual program also honors journalists and industry leaders who have used their voices and influence to expand Latino representation in newsrooms, agencies, boardrooms and public life.
Recent honorees have included civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, filmmaker Jessy Terrero, DRAFTED co-founder Karina Martinez, independent journalist Julio Ricardo Varela, Alicia Menendez, Ilia Calderón, León Krauze, María Elena Salinas and María Hinojosa.
You’ll need to submit your entry through the official HPRA National ¡BRAVO! Awards platform. The 2026 Awards Toolkit, eligibility requirements and entry portal are available at bravo.hprausa.org.
HPRA will honor the winners Nov. 19 in Los Angeles. Diaz’s quote in HPRA’s official announcement offered some additional clues about what it takes to win:
“Over the past 12 years, the HPRA ¡BRAVO! Awards have shown the power of work rooted in culture, truth, and purpose,” Diaz said. “Latino communities are driving the future of the nation’s growth, and our industry has a responsibility to meet that force with respect, discipline, and creativity. This year, we invite communicators to submit the campaigns that moved people, shifted conversations, and honored our communities with care.”
Your campaign moved audiences. Now it’s your turn to move.
The clock ticks toward Aug. 7.
Bill Gato is CEO and a partner of Noticias Newswire, the nation’s only Latino-owned and operated press release distribution service specializing in the U.S. Hispanic market. He is also co-editor of Hispanic PR Blog and a former Miami Herald journalist. Reach him at bill@noticiasnewswire.com.