Mastering The Room

On this episode, we’re joined by Christopher Harvey, an alumnus of the Legislative Affairs program at GSPM and a seasoned political and public policy professional with over ten years’ worth of professional experience in both the public and private sectors.

He’s taken a bit of a winding path during that time, from beginning his career at the local level in Texas, to a stop in Wisconsin on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, to accumulating substantial public policy experience as a legislative staffer for three different Members of Congress on Capitol Hill.

Christopher moved from DC to Arkansas in 2020 to serve as the Interim Associate Director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College. He currently serves as the Deputy Policy Director for the Chris Jones for Governor campaign in Arkansas.

On this episode, we’re joined by Sean Garcia, an alumnus of the Legislative Affairs program at GSPM and a man of many talents, with diverse experience in all corners of the policy world — from trade associations to consulting firms to the halls of Congress.

Sean has spent most of his career working in government affairs and policy analysis roles with a variety of organizations, including the Corps Network, the American Water Works Association, and the American Public Works Association. He's also spent time on the consulting side of the ledger with McBee Strategic, the groundbreaking lobbying and public affairs shop.

Today, Sean’s crossed over the threshold and now sits on the other side of the table, working as a Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Rick Larsen of Washington, particularly around the congressman’s work with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

On this episode, we’re joined by Demond Matthews, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a long-time public servant who has served his country in the military with the U.S. Air Force and in the federal government, with stops at the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Today, Demond serves as Congressional Liaison at the EPA, where he serves as the agency’s principal point of contact for members of Congress and their staffs — and is responsible for assisting, developing and implementing the legislative agenda for the agency. He was also a Brookings LEGIS Congressional Fellow in 2021.

On this episode, we’re joined by Karina Erickson, an alumna of the Political Management program at GSPM and a seasoned political professional with plenty of experience both in the halls of government and in the wide open spaces of the campaign trail — both in Washington DC and in her native Texas.

Karina kicked off her career by running a successful state legislative race in the Lone Star State, before decamping to the nation’s capital, where she spent some time with Facebook’s Campaigns and Government Team before ultimately heading up to the Hill. She spent nearly three years in a variety of communications capacities for Rep. Ted Poe of Texas, before deciding to head back home to head up the press shop for Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, serving as both his press secretary and communications director.

Today, Commissioner Bush has his eyes set on another office — State Attorney General — and Karina has accompanied her boss back onto the campaign trail, where she continues to serve as his campaign communications director.

On this episode, we’re joined by Justin Maierhofer, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a long-time public servant who has served everywhere from the House to the Senate to the Department of Energy to the Tennessee Valley Authority — with a couple other stops along the way.

Justin started his career in Newt Gingrich’s office back in the Contract with America days, before moving on to the Senate. From there, he left government service for a spell but he didn’t go too far — making stops at the Republican National Committee and the Georgia Manufactured Housing Association.

He returned to government as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Department of Energy under President George W. Bush, before moving on to the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he has spent the past 20 years and now serves as Regional Vice President.

On this episode, we’re joined by Adrienne Marks, an alumna of the Legislative Affairs program at GSPM and a seasoned government relations professional with over a decade of political advocacy experience.

Adrienne currently works in government engagement for Visa, where she is responsible for managing the company’s Political Action Committee, civic engagement, regulatory compliance at the federal and state level, and corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Prior to joining Visa in 2014, Adrienne also spent six years at Aflac in a federal relations capacity, and before that spent time at organizations like Freddie Mac and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in a variety of compliance, technical and operations roles.

On this episode, we’re joined by Kyle Griffin, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a veteran television producer and journalist whose work you have almost certainly come across on the airwaves and most likely on your Twitter feed, where he is a bit of a social media powerhouse with over one million followers.

Kyle began his career in local news at WNYT in Albany, New York, before making the move to national where he has spent much of the last decade and a half — except for a brief sojourn in Australia — with NBC News and MSNBC. He has worked in a variety of roles with many MSNBC programs that you probably know, including Politics Nation with the Reverend Al Sharpton, The Ed Show with Ed Schultz, and for the last six years or so The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, where he is currently Senior Producer and helps guide the editorial vision for the show.

On this episode, we’re joined by Christina Ocon, an alumna of the Strategic Public Relations program at GSPM and an experienced digital marketing and communications professional who has worked with organizations ranging (quite literally) from the stars to the seas and everywhere in between.

Christina spent much of her early career working in her hometown of Chicago in comms and digital roles for beloved local institutions such as the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. In 2017, she hung her own shingle, founding Agency C5 — a full service digital marketing company that provides clients increased visibility, sales and engagement through thoughtful strategies — which she still leads today.

On this episode, we’re joined by Tremayne Smith, an alumnus of the Political Management program at GSPM and a season professional with a decade of experience working in the halls of Congress, with one of the world’s largest financial institutions — and even with a local high school in North Carolina.

Tremayne started his career in DC working for Senator Kay Hagan, before eventually returning home to North Carolina to work as Director of Bands at Rocky Mount High School. He eventually returned to Washington and to the Hill, where he served as a Special Assistant to Congressman G.K. Butterfield and as Director of Scheduling to Congressman Connor Lamb.

In 2019, Tremayne made the decision to leave Congress and join JPMorgan Chase, where he has spent time working with the JPMorgan Chase Institute and, most recently, in the company’s Global Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

On this episode, we’re joined by Heather Aliano, an alumna of the Political Management program at GSPM and an experienced campaign manager and communications professional with a love of public service, marketing, advocacy, and non-profit work.

Heather began her career in social media marketing, working first with Only Passionate Curiosity Education and then with the National Military Family Association — a job that was particularly meaningful considering that she is a proud active-duty military spouse herself.

In 2017, Heather made a pivot into politics, serving as the Director of Communications for Kara Eastman’s campaign in Nebraska’s competitive second congressional district — helping to guide the campaign to an upset victory over an establishment favorite in the primary, before falling just short in a heartbreaking general election. She spent the next few years continuing her work in Nebraska politics, serving as a campaign manager to two different state legislative campaigns and as a consultant to other clients, before taking a job with the nonprofit One America Movement in 2020.

Today, Heather serves as Senior Director of Communications for One America Movement, which seeks to build a united American society by eliminating toxic polarization.