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Karen Kaplan

Fleishman-Hillard Atlanta

Karen Kaplan brings more than 20 years of strategic communications experience to her position as General Manager of Fleishman-Hillard Atlanta. She has worked with many private and Fortune 500 companies across a broad array of industries and communications disciplines.

During her seven-year tenure with Fleishman-Hillard, Ms. Kaplan has been a key figure in growing the Atlanta office into one of the city's most respected communications firms. From corporate communications and brand positioning to public affairs and issues management, Karen has provided counsel to clients as diverse as Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Aventis, UnitedHealthcare, Abbott Vascular Devices, Georgia Tech and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Before joining Fleishman-Hillard, Ms. Kaplan served as Public Affairs Director for Solvay Pharmaceuticals. She established the company's first comprehensive communications strategy, and was responsible for all facets of corporate, brand and internal communications. Her efforts led to several award-winning patient and physician education campaigns, and created the framework around marketing and corporate communications. As the official company spokesperson, Ms. Kaplan built strong links with key national and local business, trade and healthcare media.

From 1994-1996, Ms. Kaplan helped build the Atlanta office of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, where she directed healthcare, consumer and corporate clients including Eli Lilly & Co., Noven Pharmaceuticals, HCA and several Atlanta-based law firms.

For more than a decade, Ms. Kaplan held the top management position for a Florida-based non-profit corporation, where she led numerous consumer education campaigns that became industry standards for leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, including Glaxo-Wellcome, Pfizer, Abbott, Aventis Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson.

Ms. Kaplan began her career as a journalist, covering local government and education for a daily newspaper in Maryland. She then served as a senior writer and public affairs specialist for AFSME, the nation's largest public employee labor union in Washington, D.C., where she was responsible for building strategic media and coalition-building campaigns.

Ms. Kaplan is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism.