AVOQ - Key Persons
Before Avoq, Abbey spent most of her career in the creative, public relations and advertising space, recruiting for agencies such as Weber Shandwick, APCO Worldwide, Saatchi Wellness, VML&YR and a brief stint at Droga5. Her main focus has been leading talent acquisition and building strong and diverse teams across the globe. One of the highlights of her career was as the lead designer for a 250+ paged book, "Polaroids," which was published in conjunction with the exhibition "Polaroids: Mapplethorpe" at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in partnership with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
Abbey grew up in State College, Pa. and now lives in the Court House neighborhood of Arlington, Va. When she's not recruiting top talent for Avoq, you can find her working out on her Peloton or at a Pure Barre class, or walking her two dogs Cash and Mischa.
Job Titles:
- Art Director
- Art Director Creative & Production
Abbey specializes in content creation, branding and video production. She enjoys collaborating with creative teams to bring big ideas to life through engaging, eye-catching design. Her work includes creating storyboards for videos, designing website landing pages for a client rebrand, offering strategic counsel, and creating ads, social media graphics, fact sheets and other pieces of collateral.
Abbey has played an integral role in several Avoq projects, creating everything from videos to digital and static ads to palm cards.
Prior to joining Avoq, Abbey worked at a digital start-up, Hauswirth/Co, where she led social media campaigns and helped companies establish a digital presence.
Abbey is from Naperville, IL, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her Corgi, Pennie.
Job Titles:
- Partner, Integrated Campaign Strategy Lead
- Partner, Integrated Campaign Strategy Lead Strategic Communications
Adam specializes in campaign management, digital strategy, grassroots advocacy and engagement and public affairs. He drives strategies and manages campaigns for many of Avoq's most complex and high-profile engagements that require innovative outreach and refined communication strategies.
Using his extensive political and consulting expertise, Adam engages with clients across the country in industries including healthcare, energy and transportation. He manages client teams that develop and execute sophisticated public affairs campaigns to achieve results. Adam was named to the ROI-NJ 2023 Influencers Power List.
Prior to joining Avoq, Adam's experience spanned over 10 years, a dozen states and almost every role in political, public affairs and advocacy campaigns, from field organizer to campaign manager. Between 2005 and 2010, Adam served two Democratic governors in New Jersey.
Adam is from New Jersey and now lives in Yardley, PA, with his wife and two sons.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Insights & Strategic Planning
Alden specializes in media and geopolitical analysis, working with the insights & strategic planning team to track online conversations, develop niche audiences and analyze current events. He works with a range of clients and specializes in the defense and technology sectors.
Before joining Avoq, Alden attended graduate school at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, concentrating in strategic studies and international economics. His research focused on Russian information operations and how social media impacts the democratic process. Previously, he worked for Philadelphia-based law firm Kohn, Swift & Graf as a paralegal, where he contributed original research on a wide range of cases, including terrorism, human rights and antitrust lawsuits.
Alden grew up in New York City and now lives in Washington, D.C. He is an avid pool and ultimate frisbee player and writes about disinformation in his free time.
Job Titles:
- Director of Campaign Analytics
- Director of Campaign Analytics Digital Strategy
Alex leads the firm's data and analytics practice. He applies techniques from the disciplines of data science, machine learning and statistical analysis to maximize the efficiency of campaigns. He also builds custom data products and web applications for clients in the political, corporate, labor, higher education and nonprofit sectors.
Alex has run digital campaigning and analytics efforts on multiple winning state and national election independent expenditure groups. His work has been recognized by Campaigns & Elections, the Bulldog Awards and the American Association of Political Consultants.
Before assuming his current role, Alex helped build Avoq's first in-house digital campaign team. He began his career with Avoq in 2012. Alex is a graduate of Rutgers University and a native of Philadelphia.
Job Titles:
- Project Associate
- Project Associate Project Management
Alison uses her skills to help clients in the education, nonprofit and public health sectors with project planning, developing timelines and problem-solving. She is quick to adapt when projects get off track.
Before Avoq, Alison worked as a marketing intern at Pycube Inc in Sterling, VA, an asset tracking company. While there, she helped create ads for social media platforms, drafted website posts and handled other digital media needs.
Alison was born and raised right outside of DC and shares her home with her dog, Kai, two cats, Carrie and Offset, and a fish, Cardi. She is an avid Real Housewives watcher and plant enthusiast.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Project Manager Project Management
Alli works with clients in various sectors, including higher education, healthcare and government, specializing in digital strategy and campaign management.
As part of her work with Avoq, Alli managed and oversaw the creation, production and delivery of four unique videos and static creative in support of 2023-2024 open enrollment efforts in New York State.
Prior to joining Avoq, Alli gained public relations experience through internships with the National Restaurant Association and Halpern London. Additionally, she worked as an account associate at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media's full-service, student-run public relations firm, Heelprint Communications.
A native Texan, Alli now lives in Manhattan and can be found taking a ballet class, reading a good book at Hudson River Park or watching Tar Heels basketball.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Manager Digital Strategy
Allison specializes in digital advertising, analytics implementation and web integration. She works with clients across industries and sectors, including corporate reputation, public health and higher education. Allison's public health work during the COVID-19 pandemic helped ensure that residents in hard-to-reach areas were well-informed.
Prior to Avoq, Allison gained digital experience through internships in both in-house and agency settings, where she developed marketing collateral, managed social media and implemented data processing.
Allison resides in Bradley Beach, NJ. You can typically find her running along the boardwalk, exploring a new city or on the hunt for live music.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Manager Strategic Communications
Amanda is a strategic communicator with experience in issue advocacy, coalition building, content creation and campaign management.
Prior to joining Avoq, Amanda served as the digital director on a successful campaign to protect workers' rights in Massachusetts. She has also worked as a digital strategist on congressional campaigns and in the nonprofit space. Amanda got her start in politics as a field organizer for Elizabeth Warren's Senate re-election campaign, and on the ground in New Hampshire for Warren's 2020 presidential campaign.
Originally from central Connecticut, Amanda now lives in Somerville, MA, with her cat, Moose, and her dog, Mollie. She can often be found at the local library, the dog park or the beach.
Job Titles:
- Art Director
- Art Director Creative & Production
Amanda specializes in conceptualizing visual and thematic approaches for ad campaigns, as well as executing designs for social and digital ads, and various client-branded deliverables. Amanda works with clients across industries and sectors including but not limited to education, health care, social justice, clean energy, and government.
Before Avoq, Amanda worked as a freelance graphic designer, collaborating with various clients on constructing brand identity, building decks, and executing branded deliverables. Amanda also worked closely with SongMe, a live music app that gives performers and their fans a whole new way to engage in real-time.
Amanda is from Long Island, NY. She is an admirer of all things art and design, with a passion for painting.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President Strategic Communications
Andrea specializes in strategic and crisis communications and issue advocacy. She works with clients in corporate, government and nonprofit spaces.
Before Avoq, Andrea served as managing director of U.S. social issues engagement at Edelman, where she advised CEOs and the full C-Suite of Fortune 100 companies on navigating complex social and political issues. Prior to Edelman, Andrea was appointed communications director and then senior advisor for strategic planning by former Mayor Bill de Blasio from 2014-2018 - making her the highest-ranking communications official to the former mayor. She has worked in-house at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as well as a consultant to the national office and its affiliates.
Andrea is from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, but she and her husband have lived on the Upper West Side for more than 20 years. She is the mom to two boys and two dogs. She has run 13 marathons with a personal best of 3:21 and recently completed the Abbott World Marathon Majors' six stars series. She is also a NASM certified personal trainer.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director
- Senior Director Account Leadership
Andy specializes in developing and implementing creative, results-driven communications campaigns. He works with clients in a variety of sectors, including public health, higher education and environmental protection.
Andy has supported projects that have helped improve lives by reducing gun violence, supporting addiction treatment and, most recently, identifying ways to help communities make streets safer. He also helped lead a statewide campaign that supported the addition of thousands of acres of protected lands.
Before joining Avoq, Andy served as the director of public relations at Streetsense Consulting. Prior to that, he was an account manager at Sage Communications, where he worked with clients in the nonprofit, technology and healthcare sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked as a senior policy, advocacy and communications strategist supporting major public health and education-focused clients.
Andy is from Griffin, GA, and now lives in Washington, DC. Outside of work, he's usually chasing around his preschooler, Margot, and young son, James.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Account Leadership
Anna works directly with clients to create and execute a communications strategy and help them meet their strategic goals. She facilitates clear day-to-day communications between her clients and the agency and helps drive integrated campaign development and deliverable execution internally. Anna has supported the campaign development and production of multiple PSAs and leads communications for an industry coalition.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President Account Leadership
Anne oversees strategic client accounts and leads campaign strategy and execution. She has over 20 years of experience developing, implementing and managing strategic communications and paid media programs for public and private sector organizations, associations and higher education institutions. Anne excels at understanding the details of a client's business and policy issues while maintaining a focus on big-picture goals.
Prior to joining Avoq, Anne served as the senior director for communications at the Association of American Colleges and Universities, overseeing all aspects of the association's communications, marketing and publications. Prior to that, she led client accounts and managed teams at several strategic communications firms in Washington, D.C.
Anne has called D.C. home for over 20 years. She and her husband met at their high school reunion and now have two hilarious daughters and one very lazy, yet lovable, yellow lab. (And also, reluctantly, a hamster.)
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor Strategic Communications
Annie specializes in campaign management, grassroots advocacy and engagement, message development, and content creation. She is a detail-oriented leader with high-level client, campaign, and operations management experience.
Annie's work includes strategy development, brainstorming and collaborating across Avoq offices, and creative problem-solving. Annie works with a wide variety of clients in sectors and industries that include organized labor, consumer goods, manufacturing, clean energy, higher education, and more.
Prior to joining Avoq, Annie worked for AKPD Message and Media, the political consulting firm founded by David Axelrod. During the 2008 presidential election, Annie served as Midwest field organizer for the New Voters Project, the nation's largest nonpartisan voter registration effort. In this capacity, she ran voter registration campaigns on college campuses across Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Annie got her start in politics as a field organizer for the National Federation of Student Public Interest Research Groups.
Annie is from Boston, where she lives today.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Strategic Communications
Before Avoq, Ariel served as an associate strategist at Taylor, a full-service creative communications agency. In this position, she developed strategy, built powerful brand narratives and engaged media to inspire, incite and shape conversation for the benefit of client partners, their customers and stakeholders. Before that, she handled talent relations, press event management and media outreach for Rubenstein Communications, a strategic communications and reputation management firm.
Ariel is from Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, and now lives in the Bronx. You can typically find her enjoying the latest or classic films with a large buttered popcorn, or finally finishing one of the many books sitting on her shelves.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President Strategic Communications
Arielle has nearly two decades of experience in political, corporate and crisis communications, from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley and the campaign trail to the C-suite.
Prior to her current role at Avoq, Arielle founded and ran Juno Strategies, a boutique consultancy specializing in social impact communications for start-ups and nonprofits. Working with a diverse group of clients, she helped launch the cities of San Francisco and Oakland's COVID-19 relief funds, created a coalition of gig economy workers in support of expanded healthcare access, and brought attention to new technologies that are preserving the stories of Holocaust survivors. As one of Uber's early policy and communications hires, Arielle honed her business, executive and crisis communications skills.
Having previously worked as a speechwriter for top elected officials, she also has deep experience crafting major policy addresses, op-eds and keynotes. She began her career as an aide on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she worked on three Supreme Court nomination hearings.
Arielle is a proud "city kid" who was born, raised and now lives in New York City with her spouse, children and canine companions. She enjoys testing new slow cooker recipes, reading novels and nonfiction in equal measure, and finally getting those 10,000 steps a day.
Aro works across industries and sectors in content creation, design, motion graphics and video production. She excels at transforming complex conceptual ideas into engaging and informative animated experiences, and her work involves creating storyboards and leading Avoq's video production. She has developed engaging video and animated work for several Avoq campaigns and sectors, including higher education, multinational brands, energy companies, labor unions and more.
Aro began her career as a filmmaker, then quickly expanded her skills from video production to design and animation. As the video content production specialist at Samsung, she created technical customer-facing instructional videos using a full array of production skills. Most recently, Aro served as a multimedia content developer at 1010data, developing visually striking ways to explain self-service products and experiences to customers.
Aro is from Palisades Park, NJ, and now lives in Edgewater, NJ.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Strategic Communications
Ashley supports clients with strategic communications, in-depth research, social media management, and earned media efforts. She works with clients across a variety of industries and sectors including energy, nonprofits and advocacy groups.
Ashley has worked on notable projects including an effort to garner support for a bill that would promote the installation of renewable energy and reduce environmental impacts in the state of Rhode Island. The bill was successful and was signed into law in June 2023.
Before Avoq, Ashley served as Producer and Media Team Member for the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, producing the weekly podcast titled, "Poll Hub" and managing their social media platforms.
Ashley lives in Connecticut with her cat Casper. She spends her free time reading or writing and can be found on stage at her local theatre's latest production.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Digital Strategy
Ava specializes in digital strategy, campaign management and optimization and social media messaging. She works with clients across industries and sectors including hospitality, higher education, energy and community infrastructure.
Ava recently led a digital book promotion campaign on Amazon Ads and Meta, landing the book on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Before coming to Avoq, Ava served as a marketing associate for Fresh Bellies, a start-up that makes healthy food for kids. In this role, she worked to build the company's branding through strategic stakeholder engagement and finely targeted marketing campaigns. During her tenure, the company was featured in myriad mainstream publications, including People magazine and Forbes.
Ava currently lives in her hometown of Washington, D.C., where she enjoys the local ramen spots and hanging out with her twin sister and their dog, Zeni.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner Government Relations
Barry has decades of experience in politics, lobbying and integrated advocacy. His work is focused across a range of issues, with particular emphasis on the technology and telecommunications sectors.
Prior to joining Avoq in 2009, Barry served as director of federal government affairs at Microsoft Corporation. In that capacity, he managed the company's strategic, legislative and political relationships with Senate Democrats. Before joining Microsoft, he served as counsel to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and provided strategic advice, counsel and legal analysis in connection with Sen. Kerry's legislative agenda in various policy areas, including telecommunications, media and Internet policy, international trade, innovation, competitiveness and economic policy.
Barry previously worked as an associate at Dewey Ballantine LLP, where he supported litigation of international trade cases and advocated on a wide array of international trade policy topics such as Trade Promotion Authority, WTO Dispute Settlement and NAFTA market access. He also served as a legislative and policy advocate with the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, working on behalf of 35 affiliated labor organizations in the transportation and building trades sectors.
Barry received his law degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from American University, and graduated cum laude from Frostburg State University.
Job Titles:
- Editor
- Senior Producer
- Senior Producer, Editor Creative & Production
Becca specializes in end-to-end project management for diverse production types, including broadcast, social video, still shoots and campaigns. She has specific expertise in post production management and workflow supervision. Becca has worked with clients across a variety of industries and sectors - from nonprofits to companies in the automotive, healthcare, education, lawn care, and construction and building materials spaces.
Before Avoq, Becca was a senior producer for HZ, a division of BCW LLC, where she managed multi-faceted production projects on a national and global scale. Prior to that, she worked at Planit as an associate producer and post production supervisor, after starting her career as a video editor. She enjoys wearing multiple hats on projects and bringing her post production knowledge into her producing.
Becca is originally from Monmouth County, N.J., but has called Baltimore home for the last decade. She enjoys going to Orioles games and on long runs around the Inner Harbor, and can typically be found appreciating the Baltimore food scene at various restaurants across the city.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Strategic Communications
Belle specializes in strategic communications, branding, crisis management and client relations. Her career has focused on crafting compelling narratives and fostering meaningful connections across diverse sectors - from entertainment and politics to education and philanthropy.
Before Avoq, Belle served as the publicity and media relations manager for La Casa Oliveras, the brand for USA Today bestselling author Priscilla Oliveras. Previously, she spent seven years as a talent agent, managing more than 500 clients while shaping client strategies and artistic brands. She also worked as a senior member of Gareth Rhodes' congressional campaign.
As an Air Force brat, Belle grew up all over the world, but has called New York home for nearly a decade. She enjoys hosting her monthly "Penne for Your Thoughts" dinners and running in Prospect Park with her goldendoodle, Huckleberry.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President Government Relations
As a former chief of staff, legislative director and communications director for a Senate Democrat, Bill works with clients to develop effective advocacy and messaging strategies on a wide range of issues and across various industries. He focuses on Senate Democratic Leadership, the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats.
Bill recently worked with energy and environmental clients to help pass provisions in the American Recovery Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. He also spearheaded a campaign to enact the CHIPS and Science Act.
Bill has more than 25 years of experience in Washington. He served as chief of staff, legislative director and communications director for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). Before that, Bill worked as a journalist covering Congress for various publications, including the National Journal.
Bill is from Harrisburg, IL. He's been a Crossfitter for almost 15 years, is an avid movie fan and has been playing poker since grade school.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Brand Strategist
- Manager Insights & Strategic Planning
Bonni is a brand strategist with extensive experience building memorable brands across numerous sectors, including consumer packaged goods, tech, retail, quick-service restaurants, and banking. In addition to qualitative and quantitative research, this involves brand architecture, proposition development, campaign briefing and competitive benchmarking.
Job Titles:
- Studio Director / Editor Creative & Production / Washington, D.C.
Brian has shepherded the studio from strictly a broadcast media tool into a space that can also handle virtual live and pre-taped productions of differing types, while also handling editing projects for a variety of clients and platforms.
Brian has executed the technical direction on media tours on topics ranging from mental health to wildfire safety. He also edits story videos for a wide array of clients.
Prior to joining Avoq, Brian worked with the Frederick County, MD, county government's Interagency Information Technologies Division.
Brian was born in Silver Spring, grew up in Frederick, and now resides in Gaithersburg, MD. When time allows, he enjoys cooking and baking, as well as occasionally woodworking.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- Senior Vice President Government Relations
Bryce specializes in crafting effective advocacy strategies to help clients achieve their goals. He works with clients across industries with a special focus on media and telecommunications policy.
Bryce is a native Washingtonian and lives in the D.C. suburbs in Vienna, VA. You can typically find him coaching baseball or otherwise ferrying his kids to fields near and far.
Brynna joined Avoq in 2019 and works on every stage of conceptualizing and designing digital products that meet clients' needs and help them stand out.
Prior to joining Avoq, she worked as a graphic designer for DDC Public Affairs in Washington, DC, where she honed her talents and abilities working with Fortune 500 clients to develop brand identities, graphics, animated videos, infographics and more.
Brynna is from Phoenix, AZ, and came to DC in 2012 to study at American University. She has a passion for live music and traveling the globe.
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer / New York
- Chief Strategy Officer Executive Management
With nearly three decades of marketing and business management experience, Byron specializes in integrated communications and multi-stakeholder engagement strategies. He has worked with leading brands and organizations across industries and sectors, including technology, food & beverage, CPG, healthcare and apparel.
Before Avoq, Byron held agency management, innovation and strategic counsel positions and also worked "in-house" leading communications for a division of the adidas Group. Byron began his career as a correspondent for the Boston Globe covering urban affairs and city government.
Byron is from the Boston area, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is avid traveler and sports and dog lover.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director
- Senior Director Account Leadership
Caitlin oversees strategic client accounts and helps lead campaign development and execution. She specializes in developing, implementing and managing integrated strategic communications programs for corporate, government and nonprofit clients in the public health, education, financial services and technology sectors.
Before joining Avoq, Caitlin served as the public relations and marketing manager for the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex in New York City, working closely with executive leadership on all aspects of the complex's communications, marketing and media relations.
Caitlin was born in Atlanta, GA, before moving to Spring Lake, NJ, and proudly cheers for both Atlanta and New York sports teams (Go, Braves/Yankees!). She now lives in Capitol Hill and enjoys exploring Eastern Market and trying new local restaurants.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the CEO
Job Titles:
- Director, Policy & Strategy
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- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Interactive Projects
- Senior Director, Interactive Projects Project Management
Ethan is the lead resource manager and workload balancer for the creative team, and the primary manager of the firm's project management technology platforms. He led the effort in 2021 to implement the firm's primary project management platform. As a day-to-day project manager, Ethan leads projects for clients in the economic development and public health sectors.
Prior to joining Avoq, Ethan was a multimedia editor at U.S. News & World Report on the daily news team, managing editorial packages, reporting on campaign finance, helping daily article production and producing several interactive projects framed around the 2016 presidential election.
Ethan is a dedicated collector and enthusiast of physical media and an avid movie-goer and watcher. He also retains an encyclopedic knowledge of bits and references from "The Simpsons" (Seasons 1-9, aka the good stuff).
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President / Washington, D.C.
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- Senior Director / Washington, D.C.
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- Digital Supervisor / New Jersey
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- Senior Research and Policy Associate
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- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
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- Partner, Head of Narratives & Content
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- Director, Digital Operations
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- Senior Associate / New York
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- SVP, Head of Digital Strategy
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- Partner, Strategic Communications Co - Lead
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- Chief Creative Officer
- Partner
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- Design Director / New Jersey
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- Senior Director / Washington, D.C.
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- Video Editor / Motion Designer / New York
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- Operations & Compliance Manager
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- Senior Video Editor / Motion Graphic Artist
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- EVP, Head of Account Leadership & Project Management
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- Research and Policy Associate
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- Partner, Strategic Communications Co - Lead
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- Group Creative Director
- Vice President
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- Junior Designer / New York
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- Research & Policy Associate
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- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
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- Creative Director, UI / UX
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- Partner, Head of Strategic Planning
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- Partner, Midwest Public Affairs Lead
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- Group Creative Director
- Vice President
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- Senior Associate / New York
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- Partner, Reputation Management Lead
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
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- Senior Director / Chicago
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- Digital Supervisor / New York
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- Digital Strategy Coordinator / New York