There’s nothing like a good conversation to invigorate your workday. If you’re looking for a coffee or lunch break with communications peers, look no further than the Better Communication for Better Health series. These short but wide-ranging conversations bring together inspiring voices from across fields and backgrounds.
Join PHCC Program Officer Shea Van Horn for an hour-long conversation with creative director, agency CEO, and digital creator Barry Brandon on the craft of communicating in a noisy, low-trust information environment. Barry has built their career turning research and audience insights into content that moves people, from behavior-change campaigns like the FDA’s “This Free Life,” the first national tobacco-prevention effort built for LGBTQ+ young adults, to brand experiences and a creator community of hundreds of thousands.
Barry will share what public health communicators can borrow from the creator world: building trust, telling stories that land, partnering authentically with content creators, and meeting specific communities where they are. Expect a candid, practical hour about reaching audiences who don’t always see themselves in public health messaging, and why that work matters far beyond any one month.
What to expect:
- Time alongside fellow communicators, public health pros, and folks from adjacent fields
- 30 minutes of candid conversation that puts you right at the table
- 20 minutes of live Q&A to ask Barry and Shea what you came to learn
- Field-tested tactics for building trust, telling sharper stories, and working with creators
About the Speakers
Barry Brandon
Creative Director and CEO,
Shea Van Horn
Proragm Officer, PHCC
Barry Brandon
Barry Brandon is a creative director, cultural strategist, speaker, moderator, and community builder whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, LGBTQIA+ advocacy, experiential marketing, and culture-led campaigns.
Barry is the founder of For All Humans, a queer-owned creative agency based in New York City and activating globally. Through For All Humans, Barry and his team create campaigns, events, digital experiences, and activations rooted in community-first strategy, cultural fluency, trust-building, and meaningful connection. The agency has worked with brands and public health campaigns including Gilead, This Free Life, Stop HIV Together, Healthysexual, DESCOVY, MiSTR, Trojan, and OraQuick.
Barry’s work as a creator, host, and cultural voice has also led to collaborations with HBO Max, Warner Bros., Jean Paul Gaultier, YouTube, Trojan, Urban Decay, L’Oréal, and more. Across speaking, moderation, hosting, and creative direction, Barry is known for bringing warmth, clarity, boldness, and a deeply human approach to conversations around identity, visibility, community, and social impact.
In 2022, Barry founded ICONIQA as an experience celebrating LGBTQIA+ artistry, identity, and global creative excellence. He is the founder, owner, and creative director of ICONIQA Magazine, an independent publication and cultural platform dedicated to documenting LGBTQIA+ brilliance with depth, dignity, and care. ICONIQA Magazine Issue 1 featured Amanda Lepore on the cover and Alok on the back cover, while Issue 2, arriving in July 2026, Violet Chachki graces the cover.
Barry is also the owner of ODD Kiosk in Barcelona, the world’s first LGBTQIA+ art and magazine kiosk. With plans to expand the brand through a new studio space and future global projects, ODD reflects Barry’s larger commitment to building spaces, platforms, and experiences where LGBTQIA+ stories, artists, and communities are not only included, but centered.
Shea Van Horn
Shea Van Horn is a Program Officer shaping strategy and national initiatives for the Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC). He helps lead efforts to strengthen the communications capacity of public health professionals nationwide through practical tools, workforce development, strategic partnerships, training initiatives, and evidence-based communications guidance.
Shea currently leads the development of PHCC’s Journalism + Public Health initiative, focused on strengthening how public health issues are covered and communicated through the media landscape. He also leads PHCC’s Supporting Partner strategy, working with public health organizations and associations to advance deeper operational partnerships, coordinated communication initiatives, and collaborative approaches to trust-building.
A senior communications leader with more than 20 years of experience, Shea has designed national, audience-centered campaigns for federal and public-sector clients across public health issues including HIV prevention, nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco control. His work focuses on translating research into inclusive storytelling, practical guidance, and effective outreach that helps public health professionals communicate clearly and confidently in a complex information environment.
