The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) announced the hiring of Emily Ortman as its new director of communications. Ortman will lead the development of strategic communications efforts to maximize the reach and impact of the Society’s scientific programs and policy activities. She will also oversee implementation of media relations, social media, and website content.
Ortman previously managed media relations and communications at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), a nonprofit organization with more than 37,000 members. She coordinated press activities for hundreds of reporters at SfN’s annual meeting, oversaw production of the Society’s member communications, including its annual report and quarterly newsletter, and crafted compelling advocacy communications on biomedical research funding, animals in research, and more.
Before SfN, Ortman worked at the American Bar Association (ABA) as a communications manager, where her responsibilities involved writing and editing articles, press releases, talking points, and speeches, as well as providing guidance to ABA staff on media strategy.
Prior to entering the nonprofit sector, Ortman worked in journalism as an editor and web producer at Roll Call, a respected political newspaper covering Capitol Hill and the White House. Before that she worked as a copy editor at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, a daily newspaper in Indiana.