While dealing with a health issue many years ago, Ahava Leibtag was frustrated by the lack of patient-friendly health content online. So she set out to fix that. In 2005, she founded Aha Media Group to create healthcare content that improves people’s lives.

Two decades later, Ahava is well-known as a passionate advocate for clear healthcare information — and the person you want to sit next to at a dinner party.

As Founder & CEO of Aha Media, Ahava continuously pushes healthcare content creators to use plain language and the latest digital strategies to educate audiences. For Ahava, research is key — from writing about evidence-based medicine to using data to inform her approach to marketing. “People have so many choices about how to address healthcare challenges and are seeking expert guidance. We want to lead the way by producing great content that adds value to the industry and is genuinely helpful for customers,” she says.

Ahava isn’t afraid to show up as her authentic, hot-pink self. And when it’s time to get down to business, she draws from a deep well of expertise. Ahava is a recognized thought leader and expert in content strategy and content marketing. She is the author of “The Digital Crown: Winning at Content on the Web,” and in 2020, she was inducted into the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame as an Innovative Individual. For all her accolades, Ahava hopes she’ll be remembered most as a leader who helps others reach their potential. “I want to push people forward, not hold them back. My job is to clear obstacles from your path so we can be as effective as possible,” she says.

Previously, Ahava worked in advertising, communication and journalism. She has a master’s in communications from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s in English/communications from Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.

Ahava lives with her family outside of Washington, D.C. When she’s not at her desk, she enjoys traveling, curling up on the couch to watch movies with her family and taking long walks — often to the bookstore. No matter how full her calendar gets, Ahava always has time to talk about content strategy, the novels she’s reading or Taylor Swift.