Congratulations to Gayle V. Economos ’76 on receiving this year's Elizabeth Statuta Baker ’70 Public Service Award.

 

Goucher College is proud to present Gayle V. Economos, Class of 1976, with the 2025 Elizabeth Statuta Baker ’70 Public Service Award. Gayle, who is resolute in everything she does, has been helping many communities in Baltimore, including students at Goucher, for almost 50 years.

As the first person to graduate from Goucher College with a degree in communications, Gayle understands how important it is to clear a path for other people. After working at an advertising agency and in broadcasting, she became the director of communications and spokesperson for Catholic Charities in Maryland, the largest provider of social services in the state. It was there that she learned how much she could help people by helping nonprofits.

That is why Gayle started her own public relations firm, GVE Media/Public Relations, and began working with local institutions like the Walters Art Museum and Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. She also began volunteering her time to promote Baltimore’s Greek American community.

During the subprime mortgage crisis that started in 2007, Gayle launched a widespread media campaign about the issue for the Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition. She wrote the persuasive slogan “Mortgage late, don’t wait” for the nonprofit, which was later adopted by the state of Maryland. She also arranged for a retired Baltimore City school teacher with a predatory mortgage to appear on a CNN segment, ultimately preventing the teacher from entering foreclosure.

Today, Gayle manages the publicity and advertising for the CASH Campaign of Maryland, which offers free income tax assistance, education, and more for people with low income. Gayle also helps support CASH in their advocacy efforts before Maryland’s General Assembly. This has resulted in a number of new laws and acts, including the state enacting its own earned income tax credits to reduce the tax burden for low- and moderate-income workers. Gayle also helps CASH advocate for the issue by promoting National Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day.

There is so much more that Gayle has done to help the people of Maryland. She has worked with the Community Development Network of Maryland, the Economic Action Maryland Fund, and the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations. And she and her business associate once convinced a local bank to raise funds for the Family Crisis Center of Baltimore, which enabled the center to buy a van and provide more comforts for every room.

For more than 30 years, Gayle also taught communications at Goucher. As a beloved faculty member, Gayle dedicated herself to mentoring students and helping them gain employment or enter graduate school. She established the Gayle V. Economos First Graduate in Communications Prize for a student, and she continues to mentor the prize winners and her former students to this day.

For her leadership and mentorship, for all her years of dedication to the people of Baltimore, and for her devotion to improving the world around her, the members of the Alumnae & Alumni of Goucher College recognize Gayle V. Economos with this award for excellence in public service.