Mastering The Room

On this episode, we’re joined by Erin Houchin, an alumna of the Political Management program at GSPM and the brand new Congresswoman-Elect from Indiana’s 9th District.

Prior to winning her first term in Congress in 2022, her constituents knew her as a Senator Houchin, as she has represented District 47 in the Indiana State Senate since 2014.

And before she ever tried her own hand as an elected official, she actually worked for one — serving as U.S. Senator Dan Coates’ regional director for Southeast Indiana from 2011 to 2014

On this episode, we’re joined by Simone Henderson, an alumna of the Strategic Public Relations program at GSPM and an up-and-coming young political professional who, in just a few short years, has worked with some of the biggest names in Democratic politics — including the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic National Convention, the Biden for President campaign, and American Bridge PAC. Today, she’s working on behalf of the biggest name of them all as an Advance Associate for the White House, working with the Executive Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President.

This week on the show, we’re joined by Donovan Fenton, an alumnus of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University and an elected official in his own right in his home state of New Hampshire.

Donovan grew up around politics, working on campaigns from a young age. And that experience eventually took him to Washington, where he interned in the United States Senate and spent time working at some of the leading organizations in the Democratic Party — including The Bonner Group and EMILY’s List.

In 2016, he ran and won his race for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he subsequently served three terms representing the people of Cheshire 8 — one of 400 districts in the lower chamber. And this year, Donovan ran to represent District 10 in the New Hampshire State Senate, a race he won just a few weeks ago.

On this episode of Mastering The Room, we’re joined by Joe Franco, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and an accomplished, award-winning advocacy executive who has built and led grassroots operations at several prominent associations — including the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and the American Diabetes Association.

Today, he’s the Vice President of Advocacy at LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day, where he is responsible for building the organization’s grassroots capacity, and setting and implementing strategies that maximize the its ability to effect legislative change.

Mastering The Room will return soon with brand new episodes! While you wait, check out one of our favorite interviews from past seasons, featuring one of GSPM's most accomplished campaigners — just in time for the midterms. Enjoy!

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On this episode of Mastering The Room, we’re joined by Anne Caprara, an alumna of the Political Management program at GSPM and one of the Democratic Party’s most universally respected political operatives, who has managed and consulted with candidates and elected officials at every level of state and federal government.

And that’s not an understatement: From her work on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to two different congresswomen to her time overseeing the political operation for the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm to her role leading the largest Super PAC in the history of American politics — and not to mention the many campaigns she’s managed up and down the ballot in between — Anne really has done it all.

Currently, she serves as Chief of Staff to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, where she’s got a lot on her plate all the time, but especially right now as she advises the governor on the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis and ongoing economic recession.

Mastering The Room will return soon with brand new episodes! While you wait, check out one of our favorite interviews from past seasons, featuring one of GSPM's most accomplished campaigners — just in time for the midterms. Enjoy!

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On this episode of Mastering The Room, we’re joined by Stephanie Schriock, an alumna of the Political Management program at GSPM and one of the leading lights of the Democratic Party today.

For more than a decade, Stephanie served as the President of EMILY’s List, which seeks to recruit, train and support pro-choice Democratic women running for office up and down the ballot all across the country. In that role, she has helped raised hundreds of millions of dollars, helped thousands of women win, and served as a trusted advisor to some of the most powerful figures in Democratic politics.

Prior to her time at EMILYs List, Stephanie cut her teeth out on the campaign trail, serving in multiple roles at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and as National Finance Director on Governor Howard Dean’s influential 2004 presidential campaign. She also served as campaign manager for both Jon Tester and Al Franken’s successful Senate runs in 2006 and 2008, respectively, where she got a front row seat and played a decisive role in two of the closest elections in modern political history.

And after learning all those lessons over all those years, she’s now passing them on. She’s written a book titled Run to Win: Lessons in Leadership for Women Changing the World, which is now available where you buy books, in which she shares the lessons from her time at EMILYs List and elsewhere in hopes of helping to inspire and prepare the next generation of women who are looking to lead.

On this episode, we’re joined by Domonique Clemons, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a government and advocacy professional who recently made the transition into elected office himself.

Born and raised in Flint Michigan, Domonique has served in a variety of political and governmental capacities in his home state, including as a Communications Specialist in the Michigan Senate, Strategy Assistant for the Michigan College Access Network , Legislative Director for State Representative Alex Garza , and Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the Michigan House of Representatives.

Today, he works as Director of Government Affairs at the Flint & Genessee Group while also serving in an elected capacity as a County Commissioner of Genessee County, following his election to the position in 2020.

On this episode, we’re joined by Krysta Jones, an alumna of the Legislative Affairs program at GSPM and a leader, speaker, advocate and author who has committed her life to public service, developing leaders and changing lives.

That commitment has led her to walk a variety of different paths — taking her to Paraguay as part of the Peace Corps, to two different associations where she served as a registered lobbyist on behalf of women’s and socioeconomic status issues, and to the halls of government, where she served as director of outreach for two Members of Congress.

Today, Krysta serves as the Director of the Virginia Promise Partnership, where she leads the Partnership’s comprehensive efforts toward our goal of access to affordable, quality child care for all Virginia families by 2030.

This week on the show, we’re joined by Jeremy Bustin, an alumnus of the Strategic Public Relations program at GSPM and a veteran communicator who has worked at some of the most prominent corporations in the world — from Verizon to GE to Microsoft, and several in between.

Jeremy began his journey at Verizon in a sales role, before making a career change and moving on to a very different field, spending nearly six years at Newport News Shipbuilding, where he served as a public relations specialist and speechwriter. In 2017, he jumped to GE’s communications shop, before a divestment took him to Emerson Automation Solution, where he spent another five years as a senior communications and public relations manager.

Today, Jeremy is a senior communications manager at Microsoft, where he leads PR, issues management, and customer storytelling for their Microsoft Windows Commercial and Exchange solutions.

On this episode, we’re joined by Bryan Watt, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a communications pro who has exercised his considerable talents just about everywhere you can think of — from the halls of the U.S. Senate to the wild west of the campaign trail to one of the world’s foremost aerospace companies to an up-and-coming communications firm.

Bryan began his journey as a field organizer for the Wyoming Democratic Party, which in perhaps the reddest state in the country, sounds like the very definition of a trial by fire. Eventually, he made his way to Washington, where he served as a staffer for the legendary Senator Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee, before briefly decamping back to the west to spend time as the Communications Director for the Montana Democratic Party. But he wasn’t out west long though before he was pulled back to DC and to the Senate, where he spent four years as Deputy Communications Director and Press Secretary for Senator Maria Cantwell.

In 2019, Bryan made a big career pivot, leaving the Hill to try a new adventure in the communications shop at Boeing. And today he works as a Director at Bully Pulpit Interactive, the aforementioned up-and-coming communications firm where our host is coincidentally fortunate to call him one of his favorite coworkers.