OUR TEAM
Creative Thinkers is managed and administered by Arnold (Arnie) Porsch, CEO, and Judith Stein, M.A., President, both of whom also participate in projects related to their areas of expertise. Depending upon the nature of the assignment and the expertise required, we recruit additional consultants and subject matter experts (SMEs). We have developed and have access to a wide network of individuals in a variety of fields and can find the right people for the task at hand. For example, our team includes former Communication Directors from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Also included below are brief bios for some of our Senior Consultants:
Also included below are brief bios for some of our Senior Consultants:
- Vicki S. Freimuth, Ph.D.
- Karen Hilyard, Ph.D.
- Don Rubin, Ph.D.
- Janis Weber, Ph.D.
Arnold (Arnie) Porsch, CEO, is a nationally recognized video producer/writer who has also managed large media production contracts to support the missions of Federal agencies. He has over 35 years of experience producing and managing the creative processes involved in the media production industry including work for CBS and ABC affiliate commercial television news departments. He is highly experienced at supervising the full cycle of the media production process from original concept to final broadcast including oversight of live taping, digital animation, editing, and posting of final product.
|
Arnie has received many awards, including a national Emmy nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He has a Bachelor of Journalism Degree from the University of Missouri and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. For Creative Thinkers, he oversees contracts and provides expertise on video productions.
Judith Stein, M.A., President, is a communications executive with 30+ years of experience. She is skilled in strategic planning, consensus-building, media/crisis communication, marketing, and promotion. For 20 years, she was Associate Director for Communication, Health Education, and Public Liaison at the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). There she advised staff on all communications matters and conceptualized, designed, developed, promoted, and evaluated national health education/communication programs. Prior to that, she served as Project Officer for the Cancer Information Service program at the National Cancer Institute, NIH.
|
Her many awards include the Eliminating Disparities Award from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Annenberg School of Communication; numerous Gold Screen and Blue Pencil Awards from the National Association of Government Communicators; a Government Creativity and Innovation Award from the Vice President of the United States; and an NIH Director’s Award. She co-authored a book, Searching for Health Information: The Cancer Information Service Model, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. She has a Master’s Degree in Medical Sociology and Health Administration from the University of Miami. For Creative Thinkers, she provides contract administration and oversight, and expertise on strategic planning, crisis communication, recruiting consultants and SMEs, proposal development, and “Red Team” review.
Vicki S. Freimuth, Ph.D., offers more than 40 years’ experience in health and risk communications including serving as the Director of Communications at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as a professor and Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at two universities. She has authored or edited three books, written chapters in a dozen books, and authored or co-authored nearly 75 articles in journals such as Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Health Communication, American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, and Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
|
She has presented at hundreds of conferences on a range of topics related to risk and health communications, and has received many awards and honors including the Distinguished Career Award from the American Public Health Association and the first Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award from the two major communication associations.
Vicki has provided consultation to many organizations including the US Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the National Cancer Institute, the National Eye Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For Creative Thinkers, she has participated in projects related to proposal development and review.
Vicki has provided consultation to many organizations including the US Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the National Cancer Institute, the National Eye Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For Creative Thinkers, she has participated in projects related to proposal development and review.
Karen Hilyard, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, served until recently as Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, College of Public Health, University of Georgia. Karen has more than 25 years of experience as a communication and social marketing scholar and practitioner. As an Emmy-winning journalist, public relations executive, professor of public health communication, and communication contractor, she has developed media relations, community engagement, and outreach campaigns on behalf of organizations in the public and private sector. She specializes in using data-driven approaches and innovative social marketing techniques that apply the principles of corporate marketing to behavior and attitude change on behalf of the public good.
|
She received her Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Georgia, and her M.S. in Communication: Journalism and Public Policy from American University. For Creative Thinkers, she teaches numerous health communication courses at CDC University and provides expertise in areas including social marketing and crisis/risk communication.
Don Rubin, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, conducts research and training to better adapt health information to patients and consumers, and to enable patients and consumers to better understand and use health information. Don serves as research scientist at the University of Georgia’s Center for Health and Risk Communication. He is also professor emeritus of Communication Studies and of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. He directed the public health workforce development initiative for the CDC-funded Southern Center for Communication, Health and Poverty and co-directed the NIH-funded Health Literacy on Wheels project.
|
Don has authored over 100 publications focusing on health communication, intercultural communication, and teaching and learning. Don’s most recent (co-edited) book is Health Communication and Faith Communities. Don is founding Chair of the Georgia Alliance for Health Literacy and much involved in community-based health promotion. For Creative Thinkers, he teaches courses at CDC University and manages projects related to data and content analysis.
Janis Weber, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She has worked with specific populations for more than fifteen years, concentrating principally on health communications and public health work with native/indigenous peoples in the areas of commercial tobacco, illegal and prescription drug abuse, and suicide prevention and control. Her work integrates culturally appropriate contextual realities with sound, scientifically-based methodologies. As a sociologist and a cultural anthropologist who specializes in native/indigenous cultures, she understands the barriers that non-native researchers experience and the implications of such barriers.
|
Janis also understands the link between effective health communications and education programs and cultural appropriateness and relevance. In addition to her work for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Weber served as a lead team member in the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) to develop and implement both the American Indian Adult Tobacco Survey (AI ATS) and the Alaska Native Adult Tobacco Survey. Janis has written numerous educational materials and training manuals using native ways of learning and knowing. She also developed several interactive tool kits for use by tribal communities in several areas of public health. For Creative Thinkers, she has participated in projects related to program evaluation and proposal development, writing, editing, and review.