Robin Koval

Robin Koval is CEO and President of Truth Initiative®, the national public health organization dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco.

An acclaimed leader in the advertising and marketing world, and New York Times best-selling author, Koval joined Truth Initiative in 2013. Here she’s led the successful 2014 re-launch of the award-winning and lifesaving truth® youth tobacco prevention campaign and redirected the organization’s world-class research, public education and activism programs. The truth campaign has been voted one of the most influential campaigns of the 21st century, and named the most effective brand of the year by the American Marketing Association. Since re-launch, the truth campaign has prevented over 2.5 million young people from becoming smokers and is now also focused on the youth vaping epidemic within its anti-tobacco efforts. In 2018, Koval expanded Truth Initiative’s efforts to provide its expertise to help combat the opioid crisis with an emphasis on youth and young adult education and prevention and launched the Truth About Opioids public education campaign in partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Ad Council.

Prior to joining Truth Initiative, Koval was co-founder and CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group, and grew the company from a fledgling start-up in 1997 to a billion-dollar agency working with leading brands such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Wendy’s and Aflac. She was named CEO when her agency merged with Publicis to become Publicis Kaplan Thaler and led the 700-person agency to become the fifth largest in New York City.

In addition, she and Linda Kaplan Thaler are co-authors of several best-selling books. Their most recent book is Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary. Their other books include: The Power of Nice, The Power of Small and Bang: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World.

Named one of Advertising Age’s “Most Influential Women in Advertising,” Robin Koval has been recognized by New York Women in Communications’ with their prestigious “Matrix Award,” and has received Women’s Venture Fund’s “Highest Leaf Award,” Women’s Leadership Exchange’s “Compass Award” and the Advertising Women of New York’s “Working Mothers of the Year Trailblazer Award.” Koval has also been named one of Self-Made Magazine's “50 Women Entrepreneurs Who Inspire Us.”

Robin regularly appears on television, contributes commentary to print and online outlets and speaks to business, government, association, academic and media audiences.