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Phil Cox

Writer and
strategist

helping organizations
articulate who they are

and what they
stand for.

Clients

Doris Duke Foundation
Brand positioning and copywriting

Materials for the Arts
Mission and copywriting

Advocates for Trans Equality
Naming, mission, and brand positioning

Conservation International
Campaign creative strategy

Meta
Communications strategy

MCA Chicago
Strategic planning

Gates Foundation
Creative strategy (multiple projects)

MoMA
Audience research and visitor strategy

Terra Foundation for American Art
Opportunity assessment

Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
Strategic planning

La Brea Tar Pits
Opportunity assessment

University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning
Brand positioning

University of Chicago
Naming, exhibition planning, and copywriting

Bio

I am a strategist and writer based in NYC. Using words and images, I help organizations of all types articulate who they are and what they stand for. I have particular experience in the arts, climate and conservation, global development, and philanthropy.

Outside of my client work I write about architecture, urbanism, and the public life of buildings. My book, “What a Building Does: The Hoosier Modernisms of Evans Woollen” (a collaboration with the photographer Niall Cronin), was published by Indiana University Press in 2025. Other work has appeared in publications like Untitled Journal and MAS Context.

I am also the co-author, with the designer Giorgia Lupi, of “Speak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbers,” a collection of essays and interviews exploring the societal role of data today. The book includes conversations with Paola Antonelli, Refik Anadol, Kate Crawford, Nico Muhly, John Maeda, Adam Grant, and others.

Freelance Strategy Lead(2024–)
AREA 17
Freelance Partnership Director
(2025–)

Pentagram
Associate Partner
(2023–2024)

Strategy and New Business Lead
(2019–2023)

NEW INC
Mentor
(2019)

LaPlaca Cohen
Strategist
(2018–2019)

Associate Strategist
(2017–2018)

Marketing and Research Coordinator
(2016–2017)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A. Media and Journalism;
B.A. Art History
(2016)

Contact