WASHINGTON — Weber Shandwick has hired Hager Sharp’s Trish Taylor to lead the firm’s Washington healthcare practice.

Taylor’s charge includes counseling clients on patient advocacy and public health campaigns, public affairs programs focused on healthcare policy, and educational initiatives designed to enhance healthcare delivery. 

She is the first person to hold the role since early 2020, when Antoinette Forbes left to join then-W2O Group (now called Real Chemistry) as a managing director.

Taylor brings to the role more than 20 years of experience working with government, nonprofit and private sector clients on national public education, awareness and behavior change campaigns.

For the last five years, she has led Hager Sharp’s healthcare practice, which specializes in working with mission-driven organizations, including nonprofits and institutions as well as businesses. Earlier in her career, Taylor worked for Ogilvy for nearly nine years, leading public health awareness and behavior change initiatives and cause marketing projects as a senior VP.

“Trish stands apart as someone who brings deep subject matter expertise and an impressive track record as a team lead, client counselor and growth driver,” said Paul Massey, who is president of Weber Shandwick public affairs group Powell Tate and leads the firm’s social impact work globally.

“Trish will be a catalyst in our growing work delivering big, data-driven, integrated creative and public affairs campaigns for healthcare clients in Washington.”