# Reid Connolly

> Reid Connolly is the New York-based founder and CEO of Inizio Evoke. He entered advertising while still in high school, held leadership roles at Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare, imc2 and Digitas Health, then founded Evoke in 2006 as a digital-first healthcare agency. Across two decades, he has helped turn that specialist shop into a global, integrated marketing and communications platform while retaining a stated preference for human insight, careful hiring and a culture that takes the work more seriously than itself.

- **Role:** CEO and Founder at Inizio Evoke
- **Organizations:** Inizio Evoke, Evoke, Digitas Health, imc2, Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare
- **From:** Columbia, Maryland, United States
- **Education:** B.S. in Marketing and Philosophy, Saint Joseph's University
- **Known for:** Founded Evoke in 2006 and developed it from a digital-first specialist into a global integrated healthcare marketing and communications platform., Named to the PharmaVOICE 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences in 2011 and 2014., Named to PRWeek's Health Influencer 30 in 2023.

## Career timeline

- **High school** — Joined a small branding and advertising agency and discovered an affinity for marketing.
- **Before 2006** — Held leadership roles at Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare, imc2 and Digitas Health.
- **2006** — Founded Evoke as a digital-first healthcare agency.
- **2011** — Evoke marked five years with a 50% team expansion and more than 10 new account wins; Connolly was named to the PharmaVOICE 100.
- **2014** — Named to the PharmaVOICE 100 for a second time.
- **2018** — Led the consolidation of multiple specialist agency names under the Evoke brand; the organization reported 550 people in eight global offices.
- **2022** — Remained CEO as Evoke integrated the former Ashfield Health marketing and communications agencies, creating an operation reported at more than 1,400 people and $300 million in revenue.
- **2023** — Named to PRWeek's Health Influencer 30.
- **2025** — Inizio Evoke ranked number 9 in the MM+M Agency 100, its third consecutive year in the top 10.

## Achievements

- Founded Evoke in 2006 and developed it from a digital-first specialist into a global integrated healthcare marketing and communications platform.
- Named to the PharmaVOICE 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences in 2011 and 2014.
- Named to PRWeek's Health Influencer 30 in 2023.
- Led Evoke through the 2018 unification of specialist agencies and the 2022 integration with former Ashfield Health agencies.
- Led Inizio Evoke to three consecutive top-10 appearances in the MM+M Agency 100 through 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Inizio Evoke rose to number 9 in the MM+M Agency 100, its third consecutive top-10 ranking; Connolly credited the agency's teams and client partners.
- **2025-06** — Announced Kelly Cusumano's appointment as EVP of growth and client innovation, describing the agency's broader ambition as integrated and intelligence-led.
- **2023-11** — Named to PRWeek's Health Influencer 30 following the integration that formed the Inizio MarComms group and Evoke's top-10 showing in PRWeek's Agency Business Report.

## Links

- Website: https://www.inizioevoke.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidconnolly

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/reid-connolly
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-24