David Ball
David is President of Ball Consulting Group, and in this role leads a team of accomplished professionals in meeting the needs of over 40 clients across the United States, including corporations, institutions, associations, and non-profits. He oversees all operational, financial, business development, and client service activities for the firm.
Before launching the company, he was Vice President for Communications at the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA). He was responsible for designing, developing and implementing communications strategies used to build public support for Massachusetts hospitals. He oversaw media relations, member communications, publications, advertising, and web development, and was a member of the association’s leadership team. He conceived and executed public affairs campaigns that generated millions of dollars in new state support for Massachusetts hospitals and reversed damaging Medicaid cuts, two years in a row.
Prior to joining MHA, David was Group Manager at a mid-sized Boston-based public relations firm. He oversaw the Public Affairs/Crisis Communications Group and created a health care practice that became a mainstay for the firm. He conceptualized, developed and executed large-scale public education and outreach campaigns for diverse health care organizations. He supervised account teams, and provided counsel and client service, working on a wide variety of sensitive and complex issues.
David previously had served for four years as Director of Communications for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS). He was responsible for managing internal and external communications for the Health and Human Services Secretariat and its 15 agencies, overseeing media relations and press strategy, and serving as spokesman for the Secretariat and the administrations of Governors William F. Weld and Paul Cellucci. In this capacity, he was a senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. While serving in this role, he oversaw a massive public education and outreach campaign for a newly expanded state health care program. The campaign resulted in some 200,000 adults and children gaining health insurance coverage.
Prior to that, David was Director of External Affairs for the Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance, where he was responsible for media relations, legislative and inter‑governmental affairs, and the Division’s Board of Hearings. Earlier, he was Director of the Division’s Prior Approval Unit, a health care utilization review program. The unit, which faced a compliance action under a federal consent decree when Mr. Ball was appointed to the job, was revamped and reorganized under his direction, winning accolades for prompt and accurate clinical review.
David worked in Massachusetts state government for 13 years, in several analytical and managerial positions. He served on the adjunct faculty of Emerson College for four years, where he taught media relations, public relations, and writing.
He also served as Vice President for Communications at the former Massachusetts Extended Care Federation, the largest long-term care provider association in the state, from 2004 to 2006.
David holds a BA in Political Science (concentration in Public Administration) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an MS in Public Affairs from the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and has completed the Senior Executive Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He is a frequent contributor to varied publications including Drug Topics, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and O’Dwyer’s PR magazine. He sits on the advisory board to the Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He also currently serves as President of PR Boutiques International, a global association of independently owned PR firms.
