The Corporate Conscience: Navigating Values-Driven Comms in an Election Year

Dr. Kalahn Taylor-Clark, PhD, MPH works with SBI Social Business Innovation at Merck Pharmaceuticals and is a Core Faculty member in the Healthcare of Business Initiative at the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, where she teaches Healthcare Organizational Leadership and Inclusive Leadership. She also serves as a strategy advisor to for-profit and not-for-profit C-Suite leaders in the areas of leadership development, social business innovation and health equity. Most recently, she served as Vice President and Head of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at Myovant Sciences. In this capacity she oversaw patient centered advocacy and digital innovation. Her team was responsible for driving transformative advocacy in the areas of women’s health and prostate cancer, addressing health equity and advancing digital innovation strategies to improve patient experiences and outcomes. From 2015-2020, Dr. Taylor-Clark led the US Cardiometabolic Public Affairs and Patient Advocacy team at Sanofi. In 2020 she was promoted to Vice President and Global Head of Patient Centered Outcomes and Innovation at Sanofi. In this role she was instrumental in developing the Patient Informed Development & Health Value Translation department that expanded the team FTEs seven-fold and increased the budget ten-fold. Sanofi is now the only large pharmaceutical company with 100% of late-stage pre-clinical research and development staged programs, indications and clinical trials informed by patients. Dr. Taylor-Clark also served as a Senior Advisor to the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics and Assistant Professor in Health Administration and Policy at George Mason University, where she provided strategic guidance on the development and evaluation of patient and consumer engagement activities for a range of stakeholders, including: private and public payers, hospital and integrated health systems, business groups and policy leaders. Her work at GMU led to the development of Accountable Health Communities (AHC) in Vermont, which served as an exemplar for Medicaid’s $157 million expansion of Section 1115 waivers for non-medical care services in 2015. Previously, she served as the Director of Health Policy at the National Partnership for Women and Families, where her primary responsibilities were in providing strategic direction on a range of activities related to delivery system and payment reform, including: quality measurement, reduction of health disparities, patient and consumer engagement in patient-centered care delivery and the effective use of health information technology (HIT) to improve patient-reported outcomes measurement. From 2007-2011, Dr. Taylor-Clark led the Patient-Centeredness and Health Equity Portfolios in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

Jason leads executive communications for Merck Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company that delivers innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. In his role, he’s a member of the Corporate Communications Leadership team, overseeing communications and thought leadership strategies for the company’s most senior leaders. Prior to joining Merck in 2023, Jason was a communications senior leader at the United Services Automobile Association. Known as USAA, the company provides insurance and banking products exclusively to millions of members of the military, veterans and their families. During his decade at the company, he served in many different roles across the corporate communications team, culminating as the head of employee communications. Before USAA, Jason started his career in the United States Air Force, as a military officer – specializing in public affairs. He spent 11 years leading Airmen and serving his country, being stationed at various locations across the U.S., Europe and Iraq. A highlight of his service includes leading the communications team on the United States Thunderbirds. A first-generation college graduate, Jason attained a B.A. at the University of West Florida and M.B.A. from Grand Canyon University.