Golin has named Kimberly Brock as EVP and health equity lead for Golin Health, a newly created position. 

Brock is based in Golin’s Atlanta office, reporting to global president of healthcare Cori McKeever. The role, effective late March, leads the firm’s health equity and inclusion efforts and integration with Golin’s public health, social purpose and sustainability teams. 

In addition to working with the healthcare communications practice, Brock will consult on specific assignments with Virgo Health, Golin’s speciality agency focused on medical communications.

“People of different backgrounds, whether it’s race or socioeconomic or gender, have a different experience and require different needs and ways that they’re communicated to,” McKeever said. “While I think COVID-19 certainly highlighted the disparities in a different way and magnified it, the PR community has been working toward this for some time.”

Brock will provide strategic communication guidance to Golin’s clients, particularly with its health, public affairs, government affairs and social impact leaders, to demonstrate why and how health equity and inclusion can advance communications objectives as well as clients’ business goals, the agency said in a statement. 

She will work closely with MD of social impact and inclusion Laura Sutphen to expand the work the team does with health equity. Sutphen rejoined Golin from Amazon in 2021 where she spent a year as director of corporate comms. 

Brock also hopes to bring external health professionals and communications experts into the fold to collaborate across industries. 

“You can’t have a conversation about health outcomes and health disparities and equity when without having both PR and public health in the same room together,” Brock said. “Health equity is a very large charge. It’s not something that will be achieved overnight, but it’s going to take the partnership between both public and private entities to work together for us all on our respective responsibilities to help advance and improve health outcomes.”

In her most recent role, Brock led multicultural communications, outreach and partner engagement as VP of communications at IQ Solutions. She worked with the Health and Human Services Federal COVID-19 Response, Combat Covid initiative to drive awareness and engagement among underserved communities about COVID-19 therapies, including helping to improve disparities and increase equity in clinical trials.

Golin’s health practice nearly doubled at a 40% year-over-year increase in the U.S. in 2022, contributing to nearly a quarter of Golin’s global revenue. The health practice added its first creative director Smitha Piedilato in June 2022.

The agency purchased the U.K.-based communications firm Virgo Health in 2012.