Robin L Shapiro

About Robin Shapiro

Robin is a keynote speaker, workshop presenter and first-time author who specializes in health advocacy and patient empowerment. She believes that in the near future more people will understand what health advocacy is and what skills/experience and support is needed to secure the best care possible within the US Health System. She is a first-time author of The Secret Language of Healthcare: How to Ask for the Care You Deserve. This book was inspired by all the people she has met who face navigating healthcare and the insider information she has gained through innovative businesses she has founded throughout her career.

She is a health communications entrepreneur with more than thirty years of experience. She is currently Board Chair and co-founder of the non-profit Washington State Health Advocacy Association (WASHAA). She is a nationally recognized pioneer in the Health Advocacy movement.

Robin began her career in Washington, DC working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s America Responds to AIDS campaign through Ogilvy & Mather Public Affairs. While at Ogilvy she managed both health care and environmental account work.

She held several positions at biotechnology company Immunex from 1994 to 2002, and was responsible for launching innovative programs that positioned patients at the center of products developed and marketed by Immunex. She founded several award-winning companies that engage patients in sharing their personal medical story to help others, including Health Advocacy Strategies (2002) and Health Perspectives Group (2011).

She co-founded Allied Health Advocates in 2008, the first independent health advocacy company in Washington state. She has been recognized by Seattle Business Magazine as a "Woman to Watch," was a 2012 finalist in WBO’s Nellie Cashman Women Business Owner of the Year, and was selected as a 40 Under 40 Honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal. She currently serves on the Seattle University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Board and the International Women’s Forum – WA Forum (as Program Chair) and advises start-up businesses, many of which are involved in healthcare.

When she is not working, she loves to travel, create innovative designs with flowers and cook. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs Lucky and Butters.