Publications, Podcasts & Videos

Amira K.S. Barger, MBA, CVA, CFRE

Executive Vice President, Health Sector DEI

Amira Barger is an Executive Vice President on the Global Health Sector team, providing senior Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and Multicultural counsel to clients.

Amira is a scholar, practitioner and thought leader who brings more than 16 years of experience in strategic communications that reach stakeholders, mobilize the community and inspire action. At California State University East Bay she serves as a lecturer in marketing and communications, joining the faculty in 2019. She also lectures at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the new Public Health for Business Leaders program. She is a data-driven/data-informed, organizational architect who leverages design thinking to advance DEI and solve complex challenges. Prior to joining Edelman, Amira served as Senior Vice President, Public Relations and Public Affairs at Ogilvy where she led efforts to support the government, corporate and non-profit clients in adopting equity-centered practices to reach historically underserved communities. She also worked in the nonprofit sector for 14 years tackling pressing, public issues that impact us all with organizations like the Public Health Institute, Feeding America and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. 

Throughout her career, Amira has curated and led DEI and Multicultural activities for clients such as: Genentech, Pfizer, GSK, Children’s Miracle Network, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, First 5 Los Angeles, Covered California, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FEMA, and California Community Colleges.

She holds a B.A. in Marketing from Vanguard University, an MBA from Letourneau University, and invested in her professional development by receiving DEI Certifications from Cornell University, University of South Florida, and SDS Global Enterprises Inc. Amira is a passionate life-long learner, having received her CVA (Certified Volunteer Administrator) and CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) designations. Amira maintains active memberships with: the American Public Health Association, Public Relations Society of America, Association of Fundraising Professionals, and Chief (a private women’s network).​ She is an avid writer and her thought leadership, from bylines to webinars to podcasts, can be found here: https://www.clippings.me/amirabarger 

Amira actively participates in organizations aligned to her passion for community service and efforts to empower historically underserved communities; she serves on the Board of By the Bay Health, Journalistic Learning Initiative, the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration, Valero-Benicia Refinery Community Advisory Board, and the City of Benicia Commission United for Racial Equity. 

In her spare time, Amira and her family work their way through collecting stamps in the National Park Service Passport Cancellation Book. They plan to visit all 417 national parks/monuments in the U.S. as proud #RoadTripWarriors. Amira lives in Benicia, CA with Jonathan, her life partner of 17+ years, their 9-year-old daughter Audrey and their furry son Bucky the blue-eyed silver Labrador.