Alliance development and advocacy, from our perspective, is not a one-person job. It takes a village, and in our case, that village includes a network of strategic advisors we call the Reservoir Advocacy Alliance Network (RAAN).
The network includes a cadre of leading experts with deep expertise in health advocacy and strategic communications targeted to specific communities and issue areas. Their expertise spans multicultural communities, geographies, business sectors, healthcare providers, LGBTQ communities, diverse age groups, religious faiths, as well as important areas in healthcare including oncology, rare diseases and women’s health. Members of the RAAN will also play an advisory role in the development of Reservoir research tools, including the Patient Value Model.
While stakeholder engagement has been a core offer since founding the firm, we’ve more formally empaneled this network of leading strategists for one simple reason – perspective matters. And we wanted to ensure a depth and range of perspectives were fully available to our clients and colleagues.
How a certain community views and approaches an issue, policy position, disease area or product could be vastly different in other communities. Culturally competent, thoughtfully considered and informed perspectives represent the touchstone of successful communications efforts.
Which advocacy groups are the most effective in connecting with specific communities? Which social channels or community initiatives should be considered for a strategic program or campaign? How can we craft a message that matters to one group without forfeiting the interest of another? Our RAAN colleagues will help answer these and other important questions for our clients.
Our RAAN team of advisors includes:
- Dr. Angeline Bushy, Ph.D., R.N. – Nursing, rural communities and healthcare, public and community health, cultural competence
- Dr. Dennis Cryer – Provider community
- Deanna Darlington – Multicultural communities and health equity
- Shawn Gremminger – Policy insights and employer community
- Steven Grossman – Rare diseases community
- Michelle Nealy – Social justice
- Gillian Parrish – Cancer community
- Katy Spangler – Business community engagement
- Aimee Thorne-Thomsen – Latino/a community engagement, LGBTQ community
- Lori Weinstein – Faith based communities, women’s health and wellness
Going forward we will feature the perspectives of our esteemed RAAN members through a series of articles, led by Reservoir’s own Michelle Nealy.
The next time you are thinking about an approach to a strategic issue, or working to address a complex problem, the RAAN team can help you find an answer that is fully informed by key insights and perspectives from leaders in the industry. It’s a 360-degree view that we believe will make all the difference.