By Gabi Bain

Missouri School of Journalism alumna Casey Adams Jones, MA ’17, is putting the skills she honed at the School to work in the service of diversity and inclusion in the health care industry. As communications lead for U.S. Self Care at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, she’s proving that strategic communication is about more than driving publicity — it can change lives. 

In May 2021, Jones was a part of a larger team behind the launch of a new variety of BAND-AID® bandages that offer different shades of brown to match a diverse array of skin tones. Leading communication efforts for this product, Jones found an opportunity to merge two of her passions: supporting a brand through creative communication, and being part of the solution when it comes to social inequities.

“At Johnson & Johnson, I’m able to infuse my passion for health equity and expertise in health communication,” said Jones. “By being part of the communications team for the US Self Care business within Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, I have the privilege of working on iconic brands that help more than 1.2 billion people live healthier every day and helping drive our community impact work.”

Jones doesn’t want to stop there on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She is proud of the efforts through brands like BAND-AID®, which has committed $300,000 in scholarships so two national nursing organizations could award them to Black nursing students, and donations of over 220,000 of OURTONE™ bandages to community health centers and faith-based and nonprofit organizations who predominantly engage with the Black community. Jones added how the company is committed to building out its impact efforts from internal and external training sessions to on-the-ground community initiatives. 

“Most top of mind for me is Our Race to Health Equity commitment of $100 million over the next five years to invest in and promote health equity solutions for Black communities and other communities of color in the United States,” she said.

Her interest in using marketing and communication to create wider impacts on society is nothing new; it’s what attracted her to health communication in the first place, starting with her joining the communications department at the MU School of Health Professions.

When her role transitioned to becoming the marketing and communications specialist, she saw the possibilities that such a career path could offer. 

“We were storytelling across multiple platforms about the life-changing, life-saving research and clinical work our SHP (School of Health Professions) faculty and students were engaging in,” said Jones. “It was a constant, surreal feeling of going to bed at night knowing the work I was doing was meaningful and impactful to so many individuals, families and communities.”

Jones still uses what she learned at Mizzou in her work regularly. Among the key lessons were how to build an effective communication strategy, a nuanced view of the public health sector, and the ability to conduct and understand technical research.

“Being part of such a powerful alumni network also had an incredible impact on my career,” she said. “I’m forever grateful for my experience at Mizzou.”

Updated: March 15, 2022