Rob Shepardson
Senior Advisor
New York City
Rob Shepardson is a Senior Advisor and Counsel to BPI, bringing over 40 years of elite experience across politics, advertising, public affairs, and issue advocacy to the firm. He is a co-founder of SS+K, the renowned New York City advertising and communications agency named one of the 10 most innovative shops by Fast Company and celebrated with multiple Cannes Lions for creativity and effectiveness.
Throughout his career, Rob has led high-impact initiatives and campaigns across the commercial, political and non-profit sectors. His advocacy and political portfolio includes serving as the youth agency for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as directing major efforts for the Obama White House, the Biden/Harris campaign, the Biden White House, the Harris/Walz campaign. On the corporate and institutional side, Rob has guided brands such as Microsoft, HBO, JP Morgan Chase, L’Oreal, Starbucks, AWS, Meta, WhatsApp, the NCAA, the Open Society Foundations, the AFL-CIO, and more.
He has worked extensively in public health and healthcare, including LiveStrong (leading the agency team that developed the iconic yellow wristband), the Gates Foundation, Let’s Move! (former First Lady Michelle Obama’s signature anti-childhood obesity campaign), Mt. Sinai Health System, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Sandy Hook Promise, No Kid Hungry, Planned Parenthood, the UN Development Programme, the ONE Campaign, and more.
Prior to co-founding SS+K, Rob was at the Sawyer/Miller Group, where he advised several heads of state and international presidential campaigns. In 2014, President Obama appointed Rob to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. Rob is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Rob was inducted into the Franklin & Marshall Sports Hall of Fame as an All-American quarterback and graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School. He is married to Jane Kimmel; they have three adult children.
