Professor Dr. Rebecca Pender-Baum receives Dr. Bill Braden Award

MURRAY, Ky. — Dr. Rebecca Pender-Baum, a professor in counseling, has received the Dr. Bill Braden Award, the highest honor presented by the Kentucky Counseling Association (KCA).

The Dr. Bill Braden Award recognizes individuals who have made the greatest contributions to the promotion of guidance and counseling across the Commonwealth of Kentucky through professional leadership, service and advocacy.

The award is named in honor of Bill Braden, who served for many years as executive director of the Kentucky Counseling Association. Before his leadership with KCA, Braden worked as a school counselor and later with the Kentucky Department of Education. He was widely recognized for mentoring counseling students and professionals throughout his career and for identifying emerging leaders within the profession.

Braden also played an important leadership role nationally through the American Counseling Association and the Southern Region of the American Counseling Association, where he served on committees and boards. His leadership helped position KCA as one of the most respected state branches within the American Counseling Association.

Recipients of the Dr. Bill Braden Award are nominated by supervisors, peers or colleagues and selected by the KCA awards committee based on their professional service, leadership and long-standing contributions to the counseling profession in Kentucky.

Pender-Baum said receiving an award named after Braden carries special meaning.

“I was truly speechless when I learned that not only did someone deem me qualified and deserving of this award, but also that the KCA Executive Board awarded it to me,” Pender-Baum said. “Professional leadership and mentorship is one of my professional roles that I find most valuable and rewarding. To be considered by my peers to be someone deserving of an award based on my contributions to the field of counseling in the Commonwealth is one of the most rewarding accolades I have received and one I do not take lightly.”

Pender-Baum first met Braden at a conference and remembers being struck by his influence in the profession.

“I remember meeting Dr. Braden in 2012 at a leadership conference when I first came to Kentucky and thought, ‘Wow, this person has been so influential in this field—what an honor to be in his presence,’” she said. “To be given an award in his name touched my heart in a very deep way.”

Throughout her career, Pender-Baum has held numerous leadership roles within the counseling profession at the state, national and international levels. She previously served as president of the Kentucky Association for Specialists in Group Work and as president of the Kentucky Counseling Association. Since 2021, she has served as chair of the KCA Advocacy Committee, organizing an annual “Day on the Hill” to advocate for the counseling profession and mental health initiatives in Kentucky.

Pender-Baum also serves as the social media coordinator for KCA and has held leadership roles nationally, including chair of the Southern Region of the American Counseling Association and service on the American Counseling Association Ethics Committee. Internationally, she served as president of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors.

Most recently, Pender-Baum was elected president of the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and will assume the role in July 2026.

She said being nominated for the award by a colleague made the recognition even more meaningful.

“It is touching to know that someone thought highly enough of me and my work within the Commonwealth to promote professional counseling, social justice and advocacy,” Pender-Baum said.