Top Democrat Public Relations Firm CEO’s
There is an old saying that warns against discussing politics or religion with people you don’t know well. Yea, well, we’re ignoring that rule right now. For the common man or woman, your political affiliation or contributions probably won’t be plastered all over the Internet. Many CEOs also do their best to keep that private. But when your firm is strongly affiliated with a number of candidates from one party, or you work for the Democratic National Committee, it’s hard to keep that secret. Here are a few we found who are either declared Democrats, or from their accomplishments and client lists we assume they are.
Larry Grisolano, Partner – AKPD Message and Media.
Grisolano has 30 years’ experience as a political professional and has been at the center of several important battles for the Democratic Party. Grisolano earned his BA degree with honors from the University of Iowa in political science.
He also studied business management at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. But, even with those credentials, it is clear that his education is mainly from his time in the working world.
He’s worked as a leading strategist, media and research advisor, direct mail specialist, field organizer and leader. One of his biggest accomplishments in the political arena was his work in 2007 and 2008 when he was Director of Paid Media and Opinion Research with Obama for America and Obama-Biden 2008.
During that time he created, supervised, and directed an opinion research program that helped create the strategic roadmap for that campaign. He hails from Iowa but has crisscrossed the country while working on a variety of campaigns going back to at least the 1980s.
Catherine Herrick, President – Buying Time Media.
Herrick runs one of the top DC paid media strategy planning and buying shops. She has gained much experience in the political arena, issue and commercial media strategy development and buying experience. She founded Buying Time Media in 1997. In 1996, she dealt with the daily operations of the Clinton/Gore paid media campaign, as well as the DNC coordinated campaign. She lives in Annapolis, MD with her family. And she received her BA degree in Psychology from Kenyon College.
Karen Van Bergen, CEO – Porter Novelli.
Karen has approximately 30 years’ experience in public affairs, communications, and marketing, as well as extensive agency and client experience. She was named CEO in 2012, but prior to that was senior partner and managing director of the New York office for the firm. As the global leader for OneVoice, Karen managed a 600-person consulting team across more than 80 countries. She passionately believes in investing in the people around her and enjoys the opportunity to learn from challenges she and her team face together.
Karen received her master’s degree in political sciences and Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands. The firm is deeply involved in working with the DNC and several candidates.
Michael Kempner, MWW Group.
Michael Kempner has long been entrenched in New Jersey Politics, but in the last few years has become a national player. MWW CEO Michael Kempner is on committees for President Obama and has a close relationship with Hillary Clinton.
There are certainly many more in the PR industry that are Democrats, but these are who we found today. If you learn about others, please share that information with us.
Did we miss anyone? Please let us know in the comments below!
