STAFFER

Anne Caprara was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and graduated from American University in 2001 with a B.A. in communications, law, economics, and government. She graduated from The George Washington University in 2003 with an M.A. in political management, while concurrently working as a Business Development Assistant at Cassidy & Associates – a government relations firm in Washington DC.

After graduating from GWU, Anne started working as a Research Tracker at EMILY’s List – a year later, she became Deputy Research Director, a role she worked in for just over two years. After leaving EMILY’s List in 2006, Anne worked as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D-OH). She left this role in 2007 to become the Campaign Manager for Congresswoman Betsy Markey’s (D-CO) first congressional campaign – a campaign she was victorious in. After the win, Anne continued on as Congresswoman Markey’s Chief of Staff for two years, leaving the role after her reelection loss in 2011. With this stint, Anne served as COS for two members of Congress before the age of 30.

In May 2011, Anne took a job at the DSCC as Deputy Political Director (where she covered all races east of Wisconsin), and in January 2013 moved into the role of Political Director, where she helped oversee Senate races in 33 states. She was in this role for two additional years, leaving in December 2014. In February 2015, Anne returned to EMILY’s List as the Vice President of Campaigns, but she only remained in this role until May, at which time she became the Executive Director for Priorities USA (Hillary Clinton’s $190 million PAC), which, at the time, was the largest in presidential campaign history.

In January 2017, Anne became a Senior Advisor for Priorities USA, but only remained in this role for 3 months, as in March 2017, she became Campaign Manager for then-candidate JB Pritzker’s ultimately victorious campaign for Governor of Illinois. The campaign lasted just under two years (until January 2019), at which times Gov. Pritzker was sworn in and Anne became his Chief of Staff, a role she still holds today.

She was named to Politico Playbook’s Power List “19 to Watch in 2019,” after her win in the Pritzker race. At the time, Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign was one of the nation’s most expensive and expansive statewide campaigns and was hailed by Politico as a campaign that could have a huge influence on how politicos approached national office campaigns in 2020, due to the enormous investments in the field and in digital. In April 2020, Anne was named by Chicago Magazine as one of “The 50 Most Powerful Women in Chicago” and has been working as Governor Pritzker’s point person for the state’s coronavirus response.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro joins STAFFER to discuss her career in politics. She discusses how she got her start as a staffer in Mayor Frank Logue’s office in New Haven, CT and recounts tales from her 30-year career working in Congress. Congresswoman DeLauro is a champion for the underserved and has used her never-ending energy to fight every day to make change for her constituents. 

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Josh Holmes, the former Chief of Staff for Mitch McConnell and campaign manager for McConnell’s 2014 re-election campaign, joins Jim to discuss this current moment in politics. He has condemned the events of January 6th and offers his perspective on how staffers can help mend our fraying political system.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

We compiled our favorite "In the Vault" answers from our first 15 episodes. It’s one of Jim's favorite questions and it goes like this: "Tell me a time when you royally screwed up, how did you recover, and what did you learn from it?"

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Frank Luntz joins STAFFER to discuss his life working in politics – highlighting getting his education in the U.K. and learning from Boris Johnson, the role of a pollster on a campaign, and some comments on the current political climate in Washington.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Stephanie Schriock is a name known far and wide in politics. She has been the president of EMILY’s List -- an organization dedicated to electing Democratic women to office -- since 2010 and has been named to ELLE Magazine's “10 Most Powerful Women in Washington” list. In this episode, Jim talks to Stephanie about how she got started in politics, her leadership style, and what she plans to do after EMILY’s List, now that she has announced that she will be stepping down as president.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Veteran Obama staffer Heather Higginbottom joins Jim Papa to discuss her career in government and politics. Heather has spent time in both the public and private sectors and has a unique perspective on how each experience has impacted her outlook on bringing change to America. She currently serves as the head of the new JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign, joins STAFFER to discuss spending his life fighting for change. Inspired in his youth by watching others — including his father — fight for change against oppressive policies, Alphonso became a lawyer, fighting against civil rights injustices and for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, he lays out his vision for what makes a successful staffer and shares his story working for Governor Cuomo in New York as Counselor to the Governor.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Michele Jawando is currently the US Head of Strategic Engagement and Public Policy Partnerships at Google, but she got her start as a staffer working for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. In this episode, she and Jim discuss being raised by immigrant parents, how she became interested in politics and activism, how attending an HBCU impacted her life, and what it means for people to see African-American, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepare to enter the White House in January 2021.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

From Big Law to the Justice Department and the White House, Kim Harris has advised some of the most powerful offices and corporations. In this episode, Kim takes us through her career in The Office of White House Counsel and how her time as a staffer prepared her for her current role as Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation and General Counsel of NBCUniversal.

Follow STAFFER on Twitter • Facebook • Instagram