Vice President, Social Marketing Practice, Ketchum Frances Bernhards serves as a vice president in Ketchum Washington, D.C.’s Social Marketing Practice. In addition to social marketing, she has experience in public affairs, issues management, crisis management, and litigation communications. Throughout her nearly 30-year career at Ketchum, Ms. Bernhards has been central in developing and testing campaign messaging and materials for a variety of social marketing, health education and issues management campaigns as well as in training client and third-party spokespersons to deliver key messages in media interviews and presentations.

For the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking campaign, Ms. Bernhards helped recruit and provide technical assistance and training for a nationwide network of more than 1,000 local and 75 national coalition partners helping to raise awareness about human trafficking and identify and assist victims of modern-day slavery. She provided grassroots media outreach for numerous education and enrollment campaigns for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including the landmark Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D), enrollment campaign which resulted in more than 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries receiving prescription drug coverage. For the NTIA TV Converter Box Coupon Program, Ms. Bernhards worked with new and existing partners to execute a paid media plan aimed at key target demographic populations who were least prepared for the June 12, 2009, digital TV transition.

Ms. Bernhards has won numerous public relations awards during her career, including more than a dozen awards for the HHS Rescue & Restore campaign.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Maryland, Ms. Bernhards received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism with a specialty in public relations. She frequently serves as a guest lecturer for public relations, communications and marketing classes at Washington-area universities, including Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, University of Maryland, University of the District of Columbia and George Mason.
 
A 10-year breast cancer survivor, she serves as a peer volunteer for the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery and Georgetown University Medical Center’s Survivors Offering Support programs, providing emotional support and assistance to women recently diagnosed and undergoing treatment for breast cancer.