recently joined the health care practice at Padilla Speer Beardsley, an integrated communications firm based in Minneapolis. As director, Folkens will help oversee staff, develop new business, and plan and lead strategic communications programs for health care clients such as National Marrow Donor Program, OptumHealth and LifeSource.
Folkens brings 15 years of corporate, agency and non-profit experience to the firm. Most recently, he was the director of communications for the Minnesota AIDS Project and prior to that was with Fleishman-Hillard, leading clients in strategic public relations programs in the health care and technology sectors. In the corporate arena, Folkens worked for Medtronic and Orphan Medical, managing corporate communications.
Folkens is a regular participant in many social media circles, a contributor for New Pharma magazine, the MNPR Blog, an active member of the Public Relations Society of America and a graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead.