Healthcare Marketing Community Speaker Profile

Kristen Saponaro

Kristen Saponaro is Chief Marketing Officer for nThrive, responsible for providing corporate vision and leadership, enabling the organization to achieve strategic marketing objectives. As a member of nThrive’s leadership team, Kristen leads the charge on all branding and communications strategies and efforts. Kristen believes in the power of the physician-patient relationship and how this connection is central to heathy people and thriving communities.

Her esteemed career in healthcare and marketing spans over 20 years. Before joining nThrive (Precyse at the time), Saponaro was the principal of Saponaro Communications, LLC, the consulting firm that supported Precyse when it rebranded and launched its corporate identity in 2011. Saponaro Communications served a wide range of clients, including Precyse, Siemens Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare, the Department of Homeland Security and others with marketing, public and government relations, corporate communications, branding and advertising programs.

Prior to this, Saponaro was Director of Marketing for Executive Health Resources, the leading provider of medical necessity compliance solutions to hospitals nationwide. Before that, she was Corporate Affairs Manager for Siemens Medical Solutions, where she was responsible for communicating the company’s corporate messages to enhance image and identity.

Other past positions include Public Relations Manager for brand communications firm Brownstein Group, Director of Educational Outreach for Search for Common Ground and a Senior Account Executive for the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm.

Saponaro has won numerous awards on behalf of her clients and employers, including most recently three North America Transform Awards in October for activities related to the rebranding nThrive, including a GOLD award for “Best Corporate Rebrand Following a Merger or Acquisition.” Other awards include MM&M Gold Awards, Stevie Awards and Marketer of the Year Award for Siemens Medical Solutions, as well as numerous Philadelphia Public Relations Society of America Pepperpot Awards and SABRE Awards, the world’s largest awards competition for the public relations industry, celebrating PR campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity and effectiveness.

Saponaro holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from St. Joseph’s University and a master’s degree in congressional studies from The Catholic University of America. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and was a member of the society’s Philadelphia Chapter Agency Leadership Council from 2004 to 2007.