Capitol Hill
Communications Director & Foreign Policy Advisor, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (FL-26)
Communications Director, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04)
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As a senior member of the Congresswoman’s team, my chief responsibility is to develop and oversee the implementation of a communications strategy to help the office meet legislative and political objectives:
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• Managing a team consisting of a Press Secretary and a corps of interns to execute projects by hard deadlines.
• Producing and placing 3-5 monthly substantial policy opinion editorials across all media markets, highlighting the Congresswoman’s position on legislative activity.
• Crafting the weekly newsletter, increasing the click-rate by an average of 5 percent from the baseline, substantially increased newsletter subscription numbers, and leading the transition from a bi-weekly to weekly model.
• Growing the Congresswoman’s social media accounts, with monthly growth of follower and engagement rates.
• Booking and preparing the Congresswoman for policy-heavy communication hits on both television and radio.
• Drafting press releases, floor speeches, and video scripts to highlight the Congresswoman’s position of pending legislation and overall legislative activity.
Jan. 2017 - July 2018: Legislative Aide, Rep. Daniel Webster (FL-07)
As part of a small, non-traditional office with only 4 staffers, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in my issue areas by delivering a complete product, from pitching bill ideas and co-sponsorship requests, to crafting communications material to amplify legislative wins for the Congressman.
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• Portfolio handled: Veterans Affairs, Pro-Life Issues, Social Affairs.
• Met with stakeholders from public agencies and the private sector to better engage on policy proposals.
• Wrote vote recommendations on legislation relevant to portfolio and offered co-sponsorship recommendations.
• Met with congressional caucuses and House Republican Leadership to harmonize press and legislative priorities.
• Drafted and place substantial policy-oriented op-eds, talking points, speeches, and scripts.
• Created letters on the Congressman's policy positions and involvement on key legislation.
• Crafted press releases, weekly newsletter, coordinated press inquiries, and maintained the social media accounts.
Journalism and Media
Feb. 2019 - May 2019: Staff Writer, Washington Examiner
At the Washington Examiner, I produced several hundreds of articles including dozens that featured on the front page. Many of the articles I produced resulted in high-traffic hits, including article retweets from President Donald Trump, high-level media and political personalities, and appearances on Drudge Report and Google News. The areas covered during my time at the Examiner include business and technology, Congress, congressional races and fundraising for federal office, and national security.
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• Produced and published hundreds of articles with a focus primarily on national and international politics, foreign policy, technology, and business.
• Monitored dozens of national and international news sources simultaneously through various platforms, including social media, online print publications, television hits, and press releases from the public and private sector.
• Formatted articles ready for publication through the internal CMS programming.
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To view the full list of articles I've written for the Washington Examiner, please click below.
Jan. 2016 - Jan. 2017: Writer, Fox News
​I'll always cherish my time at the Fox News bureau in Washington, D.C. where I had my first opportunity to write on a national level. My editors became my mentors who helped me discover my interests in communication. While at Fox News, I produced stories from a wide range of angles, including color-storytelling that resulted in my first front-page feature and quick 500 bursts that hit the election cycle in 2016. While my initial contract was for 6 months, they graciously extended my time as I began graduate school.
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• Assisted the politics editorial department in reviewing all material before publishing on foxnews.com.
• Produced stories pertinent to the news of the day, retrieving material from multiple sources including news wires, press releases, exclusive content, interviews, and Fox News reporters and correspondents.
• Worked in a high-paced environment with team members to prepare news stories constantly received from reporting wires before publication. Involves being up-to-date on all current events including but not limited to: the 2016 presidential election, international news, and daily government operations.
• Helped disperse top stories in the news cycle through social media such as Facebook and Twitter and track the analytics of a news story produced.