Christian Broadcasters Honor Former TWR President Lauren Libby

Lauren Libby was awarded NRB's President's Award, honoring 16 years of faithful service as TWR's CEO. The honor was accepted on his behalf by his good friend and TWR's Interim President Cassius Smith.

Lauren Libby, who led TWR as president and CEO for 16 years, has been honored with the top individual award at the annual National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention.

Cassius Smith, interim president of TWR, also known as Trans World Radio, accepted the award on Libby’s behalf during a banquet last week at the gathering in Grapevine, Texas.

Libby received the NRB President’s Award, which “recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, service and influence in religious broadcasting,” said Troy A. Miller, NRB president and CEO. “It recognizes exemplary leadership in promoting faith-based media, a significant positive impact on the industry, a strong commitment to Christian values and contributions to both NRB and the broader Christian community.”

Libby has a lasting legacy in broadcasting, having mentored others and having made contributions to Christian media on an international scale, Miller said.

Libby became TWR’s fourth president in 2008 and led the way as the ministry’s donor base rose from 13,700 to nearly 24,000. During that time, the ministry experienced growth in staff and missionaries and launched initiatives such as TWR MOTION — animated Bible narratives for global church planting — and the globalization of Every Man A Warrior, a men’s discipleship program.

Broadcast infrastructure was upgraded under Libby’s direction, including a 100,000-watt transmitter in the African nation of Eswatini, stronger transmitters at TWR Guam and the launch of a radio outreach to South Asia. 

Libby stepped down as president after suffering a stroke in August 2024. Smith, his close friend and former deputy director, came out of retirement to serve as interim president during the search for a new president.

“Radio was a first love in Lauren’s career and an unbroken thread ever since the early days in Kansas,” Smith said in accepting the award. “Even as he helped build TWR into a multimedia powerhouse, he was determined to expand our radio footprint to bring the gospel to vast numbers of hard-to-reach listeners.”

Earlier in the week, TWR Malawi was honored with NRB’s International Media Award. TWR Malawi was one of the first nongovernmental media organizations in that African country to obtain an FM broadcasting license, in 2000, originally with a single transmitter. It now covers the entire country of Malawi with an FM signal, having strategically placed 13 transmitters. The final two were paid for entirely through donations from TWR Malawi listeners.

This was the second straight year a TWR partner has won the International Media Award. In 2024, it went to RTM (Radio Trans Mundial) Brazil.

The NRB Convention is the largest gathering of Christian communicators in the world. This year’s event drew more than 5,000 Christian media professionals. 

Images: (top, banner) Lauren Libby was awarded NRB's President's Award, honoring 16 years of faithful service as TWR's CEO. The honor was accepted on his behalf by his good friend and TWR's Interim President Cassius Smith, (top, left) TWR Interim President Cassius Smith accepts the NRB President's Award on behalf of former TWR President Lauren Libby, (middle, right) Former TWR President Lauren Libby sits between TWR Chairman of the Board Jeff Jones (left) and TWR Interim President Cassius Smith (right), (bottom, left) International Director for East and Southern Africa Victor Kaonga (right) accepted NRB’s International Media Award for TWR Malawi.