As PHR’s Communications Director, Kevin Short leads the organization’s communications strategy. Short develops and executes communications campaigns that advance PHR’s mission, research, and advocacy. Overseeing PHR’s communications department and the communications efforts of PHR’s staff, he elevates the organization’s projects, priorities, and people with global audiences. As part of his role, Short spearheads PHR’s press strategy and works to spotlight human rights issues in the global news media. He joined PHR in 2019.
Prior to PHR, Short worked for Global Health Strategies, a communications and advocacy consultancy firm, where he focused on global health and universal health coverage on behalf of organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He spearheaded the media program for the Global Conference on Primary Health Care, hosted by WHO and UNICEF in Kazakhstan, and worked in HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and gender equality communications for the Population Council. Short was also an associate editor at the Huffington Post.
While an undergraduate, Short was awarded the Circumnavigators Foundation fellowship to conduct research in Brazil, India, Jordan, New Zealand, Tanzania, and Ukraine on how civil society groups use digital technologies to foster civic engagement and combat government corruption. He performed his journalism residency in Johannesburg at South Africa’s leading business news outlet. During his academic and professional career, Short has worked in 19 countries across five continents.
Originally from southern California, Short earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.