Who We Are

Sarah Evans is a PhD-trained practitioner with more than 15 years of experience leading research-informed social marketing and behavior change design initiatives. Frequently these initiatives have addressed highly sensitive topics toward better outcomes for vulnerable and/or underserved populations.

With special interest in risk communication and health decision-making, much of Sarah’s past work has been conducted in partnership with advertising agencies and clients with related missions and has demonstrated research as a powerful tool in enhancing the pivotal role of message strategy, design, and evaluation in improving lives and outcomes.

Over the past decade, Sarah has directed rigorous applied communication research and supported message strategy for more than a billion dollars in federal strategic communications and complex behavior change campaigns. These efforts have included some of the largest public sector advertising campaigns, including the Food and Drug Administration’s The Real Cost (youth and young adults tobacco/nicotine use prevention) and the Census Bureau’s Shape Your Future. Start Here. (decennial census participation, our nation’s largest mass mobilization campaign).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah directed research for two national advertising campaigns addressing COVID-19-related health disparities and served as a senior advisor for the development of best practices for communicating along the U.S.-Mexico border about future public health emergencies. Similarly, Sarah has served as a multicultural research subject matter expert across her work, designing and conducting research to support message development in more than 14 languages and for audiences of various acculturation levels and literacy limitations.