Rich Halberg is an accomplished corporate reputation, issues management and crisis communications counselor with deep experience in regulated industries, including health care, insurance and pharmaceuticals.
Currently a senior vice president at Syneos Health Communications, Rich has held senior positions inside Fortune 50 communications departments and led agency-of-record account for top-ten global communications agencies.
Over the course of his career, he helped some of the world’s most recognizable companies develop and execute communication strategies to successfully navigate challenges that include acquisitions, rebranding, divestitures, litigation, legislative investigations, as well as CEO and other senior management changes. He led high-profile engagements including the social media and issues management campaign for Pope Francis’ historic first visit to the United States as pontiff.
Rich developed expertise in corporate communications function and agency operations. He co-led a task force charged with improving account profitability at the largest office of one of the world’s largest public relations firms, contributing to the office’s highest margin in five years. He undertook a year-long assignment to help Omnicom integrate two agencies, helping to define the combined entity’s new value proposition, as well as consulting on its new business development and marketing strategies. An adjunct faculty member at DePaul University, he teaches a graduate-level course on the business of public relations and advertising.
Rich began his career as a field representative in the U.S. Senate and later as policy analyst, speech writer and media spokesperson for the governor of California. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Davis and an MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.