In this special episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, brings you the first-ever NPTA Pharmacy Technician I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards, held on World Pharmacy Technician Day. I.M.P.A.C.T. stands for Inspiring Meaningful Progress and Celebrating Technicians, and this full audio recording of the ceremony brings you every category, finalist story, and winner reveal.
Mike opens with the story of how one idea from Peter Fazon, NPTA’s chief of staff, turned into a year-long campaign that reached more than one million people. He explains how the awards were designed to be profession-wide, with no NPTA membership required, self-nominations welcome, and public voting. From there, each category begins with a look at the work technicians do and why it matters. You’ll meet three finalists per category, hear a bit of each of their stories, and then hear the winners’ pre-recorded acceptance speeches as they find out the results right along with the audience.
In this episode, we discuss:
- One Idea, One Meeting: How a single suggestion in a planning meeting became the first annual I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards, and why Mike says impact doesn’t wait for a title, a committee, or permission.
- A Profession-Wide Celebration: How hundreds of nominations from technicians around the globe led to three finalists in each category, and how future finalists will be chosen by the previous year’s winners.
- Seven Categories, Seven Stories of Impact: The work behind patient care and medication access, education and training, compounding, innovation and technology, community pharmacy, health-system pharmacy, and leadership.
- Finalists From Across the Globe: Technicians from the US, Canada, and the UK, working everywhere from cancer centers and military bases to rural community pharmacies and health systems.
- Mike’s Closing Challenge: Why technicians should name their impact, track it, advocate for themselves, and celebrate it with quiet confidence, because as Mike puts it, you are more than just a tech.
Your 2026 I.M.P.A.C.T. Award Winners:
- Patient Care & Medication Access: Chelsea Palmer, CPhT-Adv, CSPT, Pharmacy Technician Coordinator, Munson Healthcare, Cowell Family Cancer Center (Michigan)
- Education & Training: Verender Brown, BS, CPhT, RPhT, cMTM, Pharmacy Technician Educator and ASHP Program Director, Osceola Technical College (Florida)
- Compounding: Erika Anderson, CPhT, CSPT, BCSCPT, System Manager of Compounding, CommonSpirit Health (Washington)
- Innovation & Technology: Tricia Britton, CPhT, Central Pharmacy Services Manager, Paul’s Pharmacy
- Community Pharmacy: James Barnes, CPhT, Pharmacy Technician, Avita Pharmacy (Texas)
- Health-System Pharmacy: Diana Broome, MEd, CPhT, PhTR, Program Director of Pharmacy Technician Advancement, Harris Health System (Houston, Texas)
- Leadership: DeFabian Johnson, CPhT, Kadena Pharmacy Flight Chief, U.S. Air Force (Kadena Air Base)
About the Awards:
The Pharmacy Technician I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards are presented by the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA) to recognize the real impact technicians make every day, in every corner of pharmacy and healthcare. The 2026 awards were made possible by founding sponsors Ed2go, PCCA, PowerPak, and BPTS, with Drug Topics and the Pharmacy Podcast Network as official media partners.
Listen now to celebrate this year’s finalists and winners, and start thinking about who you’ll nominate. Nominations for the 2027 I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards open in March, and self-nominations are welcome. Then join us for CPhT LIVE, NPTA’s virtual conference, where this year’s focus is increasing your impact. Learn more at cpht.org/awards.
