Washington, D.C. (October 6, 2026) – Government Marketing University – an innovative learning platform that applies a collaborative, community-based approach toward knowledge sharing and skills development for the public sector market and subsidiary brand of GovExec – today announced the winners of the 2026 GAIN Awards honoring excellence in B2G marketing. The awards will be presented at the 10th annual GAIN Conference, taking place on October 15, 2026, at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA.

"This year’s GAIN Awards submissions were among the strongest we’ve seen, with an impressive range of creativity, innovation, and impact,” said Anna Pettyjohn, Executive Vice President of Product & Strategy at GovExec. “Each winner brought a fresh approach to the unique challenges of B2G marketing, raising the bar for what’s possible in reaching and engaging government audiences. We’re proud to recognize their work and the ideas behind it.”

A staple of the GAIN Conference, the GAIN Awards recognize the campaigns, collaborations, innovations, and leadership driving the evolution of the B2G marketing field. This year’s winners are:

• Marketing Impact for Awareness & Influence: Katie Harris and Leen Zada, ICF.
  ICF’s Creative Pathways public health campaign transformed a complex, enterprise-wide portfolio into a sustained awareness effort. It showed how stronger connections among health systems, technology, workforce, data, and communities can help agencies respond more effectively, build capacity, and improve outcomes.
   
• Pipeline Performance & Targeted Growth: CivicPlus Marketing Team.
  CivicPlus’s DocAccess Education and Demand Generation campaign paired a highly relevant, problem-first customer experience with innovative personalization and flawless multichannel execution in order to educate local governments and school districts on DOJ Title II compliance mandates.
   
• Collaborative Excellence in Partner or Agency-Led Campaigns: Raphaël Pfister and Brian Lake, Swish.
  Swish’s GIST360 is an always-on, year-round platform for thought leadership, customer engagement, and demand generation that pairs digital activations such as webinars, email campaigns, and virtual roundtables, with in-person engagements such as executive breakfast briefings, networking happy hours, and demo days, all surrounded by engaging, relevant content. It delivered impressive, outsized results for a campaign created during a disrupted government environment.
   
• Innovation in B2G Marketing: Carolyn Ford, Owl Cyber Defense.
  Owl Cyber Defense’s bespoke approach to brand-building and event activation was to commission a novella — Operation Skipjack — which featured Owl Cyber Defense technology. The GAIN Executive Committee saw this approach as “creative, unique, and show[ing] measurable ROI.”
   
• Bold Leadership: Leigh Dow, Mattermost.
  Mattermost partnered with Front Row Motorsports (FRM) to sponsor driver Layne Riggs and the No. 34 truck at the NASCAR San Diego Weekend on June 19, 2026 at Naval Base Coronado — the first-ever NASCAR race held on an active U.S. military installation. It positioned Mattermost directly in front of defense and military audiences by aligning the brand with a historic military venue event.
   
• Breakthrough Achievement Award: Edyn Segura, Microsoft.
  The award recognizes Microsoft’s new AI-powered operating model for public-sector marketing teams. It uses Microsoft Copilot, Cowork, reusable skills, and workflow automation to transform how Microsoft's Public Sector Events organization plans, manages, and executes events across Federal, Defense, State & Local Government, and Education audiences. The GAIN Executive Committee noted that it generates a 75% to 90% reduction in the time it takes to generate sponsorship agreements, create executive walking decks, and more.
   
• The 2026 Grand Prize for Excellence Award: NVIDIA + Naval Postgraduate School + Naval Postgraduate School Foundation.
  The Naval Postgraduate School and Naval Postgraduate School Foundation commissioned the first NVIDIA DGX GB300 AI supercomputer in the U.S. military, bringing one of the world's most advanced AI computing systems into an environment where military students, faculty, and researchers can apply it to national security challenges. They partnered to elevate this news—positioning NPS as a place where operational experience, academic expertise, and advanced technology come together to address national security challenges —and to demonstrate the relevance of NVIDIA's AI platform to national security missions, while building visibility and credibility with government and defense audiences.

Winners will receive their awards during a special ceremony at the 2026 GAIN Conference. The conference will feature a lineup of sessions exploring the theme “The B2G Balancing Act,” focused on how GovTech and GovCon marketers are making smart trade-offs in a high-pressure environment without losing credibility, creativity, or focus.

For more information on the conference, visit the GAIN website.

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About Government Marketing University:

Government Marketing University, part of the GovExec network of companies, is an innovative learning platform that applies a collaborative, community-based approach toward knowledge sharing and skills development in the field of public sector marketing. Experts from all corners of the U.S. public sector marketplace — marketers, thought leaders, government, media, and sales — are contributing their knowledge to this unique, content-rich platform. Government Marketing University offers training, research, certifications, mentoring, and community resources, all in one place.

Media Contact: 

Liz Stein
lstein@govexec.com