About Us
An emerging art and science of engaging patients as partners is reshaping how medical products and services are discovered, developed, and delivered. Better alignment between patients’ expectations, R&D, and the medical system promises higher value care that improves and extends lives. Yet, few enterprises are prepared to fully participate in this shift and benefit from its potential.
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Kith (n): Kindred people connected by common attitudes, practices, customs, and culture
To speed adoption of patient-centricity by life science companies, not-for-profit organizations, and academic research teams, Kim McCleary established The Kith Collective, LLC.
We tailor our consulting services to meet your organization’s specific needs, dedicating the personal attention required to define a custom strategy, improve operational integration, inform portfolio management, and advance culture change. Our approach to purposeful patient-centricity achieves your organization’s objectives, enhances mission focus, and returns lasting societal benefit.
About Kim McCleary
Kim McCleary has been at the forefront of patient engagement for nearly 30 years. She is a nationally regarded subject matter expert on patient-focused medical product development, patient-centered benefit-risk assessment, and organizational change. Kim has authored scores of publications, served on dozens of steering committees and advisory boards, is a sought-after speaker, and has an extensive network of leadership contacts. Her passion for this work is rooted in personal experience, lived and as a family caregiver.
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Throughout her career, Kim earned respect as a servant leader with demonstrated success building consensus and achieving shared goals. She does this by employing exceptional communication, strategic planning, and program management skills, applying a strong work ethic, and leveraging an extensive network of leadership contacts. She's able to maintain a sense of humor and grace under pressure too.​
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Samantha joined the Kith Collective in 2020 after nearly a decade in the medical research and patient advocacy field. Sam previously served as director of patient education, engagement, and advocacy at the National Osteoporosis Foundation, where she launched and led initiatives that worked to improve the lives of those living with low bone density and osteoporosis. One of her primary responsibilities was initiating, building, and launching a patient-reported data registry, a first-of-its-kind tool for the osteoporosis community.
Before joining the National Osteoporosis Foundation, Sam was an associate director at FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute, where she worked alongside Kim on patient engagement initiatives and focused on bringing stakeholders together to accelerate medical solutions for patients. Sam was integrally involved in planning for the annual Partnering for Cures conferences held 2011-2017 and provided programming support for the Milken Institute's annual Global Conference and other international events. She also shepherded the annual program planning process and conducted regular program assessments to ensure effective and efficient plan implementation.
Sam lives outside of Washington, DC in Mount Rainier, Maryland and is a graduate of the George Washington University.
Samantha Mayberry
Senior Director of Client Services
E: Sam@KithCollective.com
P: 202-335-1900
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Five years on FasterCures' senior leadership team, working with stakeholders across the biomedical R&D sector to advance best practices and shape policy that supports better integration of patient perspectives.
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22 years as chief staff executive for the CFIDS Association of America, now known as the Solve ME/CFS Initiative, charting mission-driven research, policy, advocacy, education, patient engagement, and support programs over two decades of dynamic change.
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Experience as a consultant, most recently crafting the "Unite Narcolepsy" initiative to leverage the FDA's 2013 patient-focused drug development meeting on narcolepsy, and early in her career, providing practice management services to dental specialists.
About Samantha Mayberry
About Lauren Kenney
Lauren joins the Kith Collective after over a decade of experience in higher education. She most recently served as Director of Graduate Health Science Admissions at Belmont University, where she provided strategic leadership to enhance graduate student engagement, recruitment, and enrollment across eight professional programs. This work strengthened her passion for the healthcare field and inspired her to apply her expertise in project management, event planning, marketing, and communications to her role at Kith.
Lauren lives in Nashville, TN, and holds degrees in biology from Agnes Scott College and higher education administration from Georgia Southern University.
