This week on the podcast, PRWeek editorial director Steve Barrett interviews Kristal Howard, director of media relations and corporate communications at Kroger and PRWeek's chair of jury for the 2021 Purpose Awards. Podcast topics: - Howard talks about how Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the country, took steps to protect its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of frontline essential workers in other industries from airlines to hotels;- Discussing the work of viral immunologist Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, PRWeek's inaugural Purpose Awards Changemaker of the Year for 2021; - This year's Most Purposeful Activation winners, the Black Coalition Against COVID-19 and Real Chemistry and how they addressed COVID's disproportionate impact on Black communities across the country and vaccine hesitancy in communities of color; - Recounting other timely and important themes from the Purpose Awards, including combating skin cancer, food insecurity, gun violence, environmental protection, vioting rights and more;- The evolution of advertising and the PESO model of communications and how focused comms and drive purposeful change and reputational gains;- Recapping the PRDecoded Conference for 2021, the topic of which is "purpose transformed"; standout panelists including PepsiCo's Steven Williams, Pernod Ricard's Ann Mukherjee, and more.