Maurice Chaney, an award-winning strategic communications professional with over 24 years of combined experience in the public and private sectors, was awarded the 2024 Paul B. Clark Achievement Award by CAPIO on May 15 in Indian Wells during the CAPIO Annual Conference and Awards Dinner.

In his current role, Maurice is the Public Information Officer for the City of Roseville. He manages public relations and outreach and oversees a hands-on learning center for Environmental Utilities, a suite of community-owned utilities for a community of nearly 160,000.

“Maurice Chaney is an outstanding strategic communications professional.  His dedication to excellence and his commitment to fostering a greater understanding of the PIO function among colleagues, community and the media have been exemplary throughout his career.  His contributions have been invaluable in enhancing community engagement and promoting transparency in government operations.”  Dominick Casey, City Manager,  City of Roseville.

Throughout his career, Maurice has honed his skills in issues and perception management, campaign development and execution, branding, social media, and digital communication strategies. He has worked across the state on community engagement initiatives and locally at various levels of government.

For more than a decade, Maurice has worked hard to raise the profile of government communicators on the local, state, and national level. As a dynamic leader and public speaker, Maurice has forged strategic partnerships, driven high-impact programs and initiatives, and increased CAPIO’s influence and reach.

“Maurice has demonstrated a strong commitment to both the communications field and CAPIO. With nearly ten years of service on the CAPIO board, his strategic and decisive leadership has been instrumental in fostering significant growth and broadening professional development opportunities within CAPIO,” said Christine Brainerd, 2023 Paul B. Clark recipient.

“Saying that I’m honored and grateful for this recognition doesn’t quite capture how I feel,” said Maurice. “In my career, I’ve been lucky to learn from some amazing people who’ve helped me become the best communications professional and leader I can be. That includes many folks in our CAPIO community. Being part of CAPIO has changed things for me. And I’m thankful I can give back in a field I love, helping others grow and ensuring government communications are top-notch.”

Since 2016, Chaney’s service to CAPIO has been vital to the organization’s continued success. He played a vital role as CAPIO’s Social Media Chair for three years, enhancing social media engagement, and was pivotal in creating the Membership Love Month for February. Chaney transitioned to CAPIO’s president for the 2020-2022 term, where he truly embodied what it is to be a strong leader with his innovative communication efforts during the largest pandemic in our history. Not only did he launch the message from a CAPIO president, but he also successfully executed the first-ever hybrid CAPIO conference to ensure members could still gain insightful knowledge no matter where they were located during the pandemic.

Chaney has been honored with numerous regional and statewide awards for his communications efforts from prestigious organizations, including CAPIO, PRSA, and CASA. In 2023 alone, Chaney received honorable recognitions for various campaigns, including 50 Years of Water Excellence, Leaks are Scary, and Water Professionals Appreciation Week—all projects focused on informing, educating, and engaging customers and the community.

“Nobody imagines becoming a public information officer when they’re young—it’s a role many of us end up in unexpectedly,” Chaney said. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything else; doing this work has been so fulfilling over the last several decades. Over time, I’ve seen how communication methods have changed, but our main goal stays the same: getting info out there and getting people involved. Our responsibilities are indispensable and pivotal in enhancing our communities.”

Chaney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of California, Davis. Throughout his career, he has focused on communication within the government sector, initially as a consultant managing public engagement initiatives statewide. Since 2007, he has been actively involved in local government in the Sacramento area, working at Sacramento County, the City of Sacramento, and now the City of Roseville.