Public Affairs &
Strategic Communications

Campbell Kaufman serves as Cornerstone’s President and has been with the firm since its founding in 2002. Starting with just a handful of clients and a few colleagues in one office, he has helped to grow the firm to its current market position with more than 170 employees and hundreds of clients across 15 offices nationwide.

He brings 30 years of public affairs experience to Cornerstone and directly manages the company’s state government relations and public affairs business units.

Prior to Cornerstone, Camp worked at two other Washington D.C. consulting firms, as well as on Capitol Hill, serving as Communications Director and a Senior Policy Advisor for two former Louisiana members of Congress. He has been involved in various campaigns for Republican candidates at the local, state, and national levels, particularly in Louisiana.

Camp has served on various boards including LSU’s Manship School of Journalism, LSU’s National Foundation, the First Tee of Washington, D.C., and the Leadership Giving Program at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School. He holds a Bachelors (BA) in journalism from the Manship School (Geaux Tigers!), and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Fiction Writing from the University of the South (Sewanee).

Suzanne Battista serves as Chief Operating Officer at Cornerstone Government Affairs. In this role, Suzanne helps to oversee and manage all operations of the firm as part of the senior leadership team. Her main focus is on streamlining operations processes to increase employee productivity while building a highly inclusive culture to ensure team members thrive.

Within her role with Cornerstone, Suzanne also assists a number of the firm’s Political Action Committee and association clients with the management of their financial and administrative matters. She provides administrative support in the corporate formation of these entities, continues to manage their financial records, and oversees clerical matters relative to each entities’ daily functions.

Suzanne joined Cornerstone in July 2009 as the firm’s Office Coordinator and in January 2012, Suzanne took on the role of Director of Finance, where she focused solely on assisting with the firm’s financial management. In February of 2014, Suzanne transitioned from Director of Finance to Vice President for Finance and Administration and most recently transitioned from Chief Financial Officer to Chief Operating Officer in March of 2023.

Prior to joining Cornerstone, Suzanne interned for one of the DC area’s top interior design firms, Kristin Peake Interiors, where she worked beside Head Designer, Kristin Peake, and assisted in managing daily tasks at the Rockville office.

Suzanne, a native Washingtonian, received her bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Georgia. She currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and two children.

Bridget Maloy serves as Senior Operations Manager for our Public Affairs team, supporting the team on business development and marketing efforts, operations, logistics and client services, based out Cornerstone’s Washington, D.C. office.

Prior to joining Cornerstone in 2022, she served as a Financial Systems Analyst in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. In this role, she wrote and disseminated mass communications that were distributed to the wider Senate community, apprising staff of all financial system updates and keeping offices abreast of new features and instructional materials to ultimately improve the day-to-day operations. She also fostered and managed relationships with Senate offices and provided client services to the Senate community daily.

Prior to her time at the U.S. Senate, Bridget was an Administrative Coordinator and account lead at Prime Label Consultants, where she managed communications between high-value clients and consultants. She also served in a business development role at their annual conference, featuring hundreds of clients along with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Bridget holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Catherine Avary joined Cornerstone as a Marketing Coordinator in August 2025 to support the firm’s public affairs business development pipeline. As Marketing Coordinator, she is responsible for scheduling internal and external meetings, drafting proposals and firm capabilities documents and maintaining other marketing materials. Prior to this role, Cat served as a Business Development Assistant at Latham & Watkins, where she contributed to business development initiatives. This included conducting routine updates of lawyer biographies, preparing detailed financial insight summaries, managing CRM platforms and marketing databases and developing client pitch materials. Cat previously served as a Cornerstone Intern during the summer and fall 2024 sessions. In this role, she worked with our public affairs business unit to conduct research, draft memos, develop content for various media platforms, assist in preparing content for client meetings, design graphics and plan events to enhance client engagement. She has also held internships with Williams Whittle, Focus Data Solutions, and ALKU. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications with a minor in Professional Sales Marketing from Elon University.

Bianca Barrios joined Cornerstone in February 2026, and currently serves as an Associate on our public affairs team. In this role, she provides strategic communications support to clients in a variety of issue areas. Prior to Cornerstone, Bianca served as an Account Coordinator at Sachs Media. In this role, Bianca prepared op-eds, press releases, statements and media advisories for clients across advocacy, clean energy, healthcare and military sectors. She also pitched stories securing placements in high-priority state, regional and national outlets. Additionally, Bianca supported advocacy campaigns by aligning messaging with legislative developments and advancing coordinated press and stakeholder engagement. Bianca also served as a Speechwriting Intern with the White House Internship Program in the Office of the First Lady of the United States. Earlier in her career, she interned for Rep. Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL) and Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL). She earned her Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Florida.

Ashley Cain joined Cornerstone in February 2025 following her time at the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) where she served as the Director of Public and Government Affairs. Ashley, a dedicated public and government affairs professional with over 14 years of experience, has a proven track record of delivering successful public relations campaigns and ability to navigate the complexities of the regulatory environment to influence public policy.

Prior to joining Cornerstone, Ashley served in various roles at LMOGA. In her most recent role, Ashley oversaw the development and execution of the government and public affairs strategies to represent and promote the oil and natural gas industry at the federal, state and local levels. She was responsible for engaging with the state legislature, local officials, the media and the public to advocate for industry interests, building and maintaining these relationships to ensure a positive industry reputation and an optimal operating environment.

Previously, Ashley served as the Public Affairs Manager at LMOGA, where she focused on the overall public affairs strategy for the Association. She developed and implemented communications strategies and strategic messaging on behalf of the energy industry in Louisiana. In this role, Ashley drafted press releases, speeches and other written materials for distribution to media outlets and stakeholders and supported crisis communications through timely and accurate information sharing with the public and media.

Earlier in her career at LMOGA, she served as the Communications Manager, coordinating all internal and external communications for the Association, and the Executive Assistant, providing support to the entire staff.

Ashley earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration, communications and sociology from Louisiana State University.

Richard Carbo joined the Cornerstone Public Affairs team in July of 2023, bringing over 15 years of public policy, government and strategic communications experience.

He joins the firm following his time at S-3 Public Affairs where he held the role of vice president. In this role, he developed public affairs campaigns on issues that impact every level of government on issues, including in healthcare, energy and technology. In addition, he provided strategic communications support to clients as they navigated government agencies and planned and executed public media events.

Prior to S-3, Richard worked for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards as deputy chief of staff and communications director.  In this role, Richard spearheaded the governor’s communications efforts surrounding the governor’s legislative agenda, coordinated media engagement and led the crisis communications efforts in response to multiple natural disasters. He also served as campaign manager for the governor’s successful 2019 re-election, the first Democratic governor to win re-election in Louisiana in more than 40 years.  During his time on Capitol Hill, Richard worked as press secretary for U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and communications director for U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D-GA).

Richard holds a bachelor’s in communications from Louisiana State University.

Jimmy Centers started his career as a political communicator working for and advising campaigns at many levels, including presidential, U.S. Senate, Congressional, gubernatorial, as well as state and local candidates. In 2017, Jimmy co-founded Cornerstone’s Public Affairs practice out of the Des Moines, Iowa, office where he leads strategic communications planning and counsel for Fortune-ranked corporations and nonprofits alike.

Prior to entering the private sector, Jimmy served as Communications Director for former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Terry Branstad and current Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds when they served as Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively. During his time in the Iowa Governor’s and Lieutenant Governor’s office, Jimmy led messaging efforts on their legislative priorities, which ranged from Medicaid modernization to agriculture and renewable fuels to education and economic development. He served as the Administration’s on-the-record spokesman, wrote speeches for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, organized hundreds of events and press conferences and led crisis communications and rapid response operations for the executive branch and governor’s office.

Jimmy is a Peoria, Illinois native and currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sam Coffman joined Cornerstone in February 2026, and serves as an Associate. In this role, he provides strategic communications support to clients in a variety of issues areas. Prior to Cornerstone, Sam was a Digital Strategist at Launchpad Strategies. In that role, Sam developed and executed SMS, MMS and email fundraising campaigns for congressional, PAC and leadership PAC accounts, producing high impact fundraising copy to grow donor engagement. He also prepared performance reports to evaluate fundraising and inform strategy. Sam previously served as a Magazine Intern at Notre Dame Magazine, where he wrote and edited articles covering alumni, politics and democracy for online and print publication. He also interned with Cornerstone as a Public Affairs Intern. In addition, he served as a Communications Intern with the Indiana Governor’s Public Service Summer Program. Sam earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, majoring in American Studies with a concentration in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy.

Sean Coit comes to Cornerstone from his own firm, Swivel Public Affairs, where he advised corporate, government, and nonprofit clients on strategic communications, media relations, government relations, and crisis communications. His client portfolio has included organizations such as Comcast Spectacor, Montgomery County (PA), the Pennsylvania Homecare Association, and Substack, as well as congressional and statewide campaigns. Prior to this work, Sean held senior leadership roles with Comcast Spectacor, including Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Vice President of Communications, where he oversaw all internal and external communications for the company’s sports, entertainment, and real estate portfolio. This included the Philadelphia Flyers, the Wells Fargo Center, a leading global esports franchise, and a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development project. Earlier in his career, Sean spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, serving as Senior Advisor and Communications Director to U.S. Senator Chris Coons, where he worked closely with the Senator to set long-term messaging and policy priorities and served as the Senator’s primary spokesperson. He also held communications roles with Senators Patty Murray, Frank Lautenberg, Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy, and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, along with senior roles on multiple federal and statewide campaigns. He earned his B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University.

Nick Dye joined Cornerstone in February 2026 and currently serves as a Vice President in our Public Affairs practice. In this role, he supports the strategic communications efforts of clients with a particular focus on those in the health care industry. Prior to Cornerstone, Nick served at Weber Shandwick as Senior Manager, Healthcare Public Affairs. In this role, he led large-scale email and SMS campaigns advocating for health care access. He also served as the day-to-day client lead on public awareness campaigns, developed multi-scenario crisis communications plans and oversaw complex media monitoring efforts. Prior to Weber Shandwick, Nick worked at Hill & Knowlton Strategies, where he supported public affairs clients in telecommunications, agriculture, defense and pharmaceutical sectors. In this role, he analyzed federal and state-level policy developments to inform client advocacy strategies and drafted a wide range of materials to advance clients’ legislative and regulatory priorities. He also supported state-level advocacy efforts for a major telecommunications provider, helping translate complex policy issues into clear, compelling communications for policymakers and the public. Earlier in his career, Nick held roles with Strauss Media Strategies, the Environmental Defense Fund, Ceisler Media and Issue Advocacy and on Democratic campaigns in his hometown of Philadelphia. Nick earned his B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Journalism from Colorado College.

Marc Goldberg joined Cornerstone in July 2023, expanding the firm’s public affairs presence to New Hampshire and bringing 17 years of media and strategic communications experience to the Public Affairs team.

Previously, Marc served as chief of staff for the office of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) since 2016. In this role, he managed a team of nearly 50 staffers across the Senator’s D.C. office, five state offices and subcommittee office through the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Before that, he also served as Sen. Hassan’s campaign manager as well as her communications director when she was New Hampshire’s governor. Other communications roles include press secretary for former Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and communications director for former Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL).

Marc has also served as the independent expenditure director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In this role he focused on running paid-media efforts across the committee’s targeted states and building teams of TV, digital and polling consultants for each state.

Marc holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration of American politics and a minor in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Liz joined Cornerstone Public Affairs in March 2020 after more than five years at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), where she served as deputy communications director. At HRC, Liz focused on communications management, relationship development and execution of major media rollouts for the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.

Before joining HRC, Liz worked at NPR for more than six years, helping lead the international media company into the digital age as the outlet’s first online Washington national correspondent. At NPR, Liz covered the administration, politics and national issues as part of the online team that won four consecutive Edward R. Murrow Awards. Before her time at NPR, Liz was a senior writer at U.S. News & World Report, producing stories on politics, media and the U.S. Supreme Court that set the pace for subsequent news coverage in Washington and beyond.  

Liz previously worked at the Hartford (Conn.) Courant, as a city, politics and general assignment reporter, and later as a senior reporter in the outlet’s Washington Bureau. In Hartford, she was a member of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of a mass shooting at the state’s lottery headquarters. In Washington, Liz reported on politics and national issues, and created the outlet’s first national media column in which she chronicled the rapid changes in the industry. 

 Liz earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications from Illinois State University.

Charlie Hannema joined Cornerstone in June 2022, bringing 15 years of media and strategic communications experience to the Public Affairs and Strategic Communications team and expanding the firm’s presence in Oklahoma.

A seasoned communications strategist, Charlie’s expertise spans crisis communications, media relations, corporate messaging and community engagement. At Cornerstone, he works with clients across the country on economic development, education, energy, agriculture and financial policy issues. In the energy sector, he specializes in conducting community assessments during early project development—evaluating local sentiment and building connections with community leaders and elected officials—and providing long-term support to energy companies by tailoring messaging to resonate with wide-ranging stakeholders. Before joining Cornerstone, Charlie served more than two years as Chief of Communications for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. He was the governor’s primary spokesperson and messaging strategist throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, managed state agency communications teams, and wrote the 2021 and 2022 State of the State addresses. His tenure also saw the expansion of the governor’s communications team and a significant boost in digital outreach and content creation.

Earlier in his career, Charlie directed public relations for Broken Arrow Public Schools and spent a decade as a news and sports anchor, including five years at KOTV in Tulsa. In addition to his public affairs work, Charlie leverages his journalism background to provide media training for corporate executives and subject matter experts to prepare them for high-profile interviews with outlets including TIME, Fox News, CNN and The Washington Post. He also manages media strategy and crisis communications for events such as Tulsa’s Folds of Honor FreedomFest and Smoke & Guns charity MMA fight night to maximize awareness and visibility for clients who are involved as corporate philanthropic sponsors. Most recently, Charlie led the campaign to secure a capital improvements sales tax extension in Lawton, Okla., that generates $34 million annually for critical local projects. A proud Missouri School of Journalism graduate, Charlie lives in Edmond, Okla.

D’Andre Henderson brings a wealth of experience to the Cornerstone team after working on Capitol Hill for several prominent members of Congress as they navigated significant political challenges in their states and districts. In his role as a Senior Associate on the Public Affairs team, he leverages his extensive strategic communications experience to cultivate relationships with both media and clients.

D’Andre previously served as Communications Director to Rep. Don Davis (D-NC). In this capacity, he was the Congressman’s national and local spokesperson and managed a three-member team overseeing a range of communications tasks including speeches, press releases, paid and earned media, email campaigns, op-eds, social media, media events, amongst others.

Prior to that, D’Andre was Digital Director for Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA). He oversaw the digital communication portfolio for the senator through social media, multimedia content creation, email outreach and website maintenance. D’Andre was also the Digital Manager for the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Education and the Workforce for then Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), where he designed graphics and branding for online messaging, drafted weekly newsletters, media advisories and other written content for the Committee.

D’Andre holds a master’s degree in public communications from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Old Dominion University.

Max Moll joined the Cornerstone Public Affairs team April of 2023, bringing a public affairs and strategic communications presence to Cornerstone’s Texas offices. In his previous role as chief engagement officer at the Houston Independent School District, he oversaw government relations, communications, family and community engagement and board relations for the nation’s eighth largest school district. He also oversaw the district’s legislative affairs work and external lobby team, ensuring alignment and execution of district’s legislative priorities. In addition, he represented the district with external stakeholders, in traditional and digital media appearances, and on panels and other various speaking opportunities. He was also the lead spokesperson for the district and main point of contact for elected officials, advocacy groups and private industry.

Prior to working at HISD, Max served as the chief communications officer & deputy director for the Office of the Houston City Controller, Chris B. Brown. He spearheaded all communications initiatives for the Office of the City Controller, working across the City of Houston’s 22 departments to help unify external and internal communications. Max served as liaison between Controller’s Office and the city’s investors, developing key external messaging relating to investment strategy, portfolio performance, and maintaining key relationships with city’s investor base. In addition, and in partnership with the Controller’s Office Treasury Division, Max helped oversee the city’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments, helping grow the portfolio to over $950 million.

Max also served as the chief of staff to the CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where he oversaw the development and execution of the Chamber’s public affairs and community outreach efforts, legislative advocacy campaigns and external affairs projects. Also, he served as the main point of contact for media, securing comprehensive coverage and managing all media relationships on behalf of the Chamber and its members.

He holds a master’s in business administration from Boston University, master’s in political management from George Washington University, and a bachelor’s in mass communication from LSU.

Hyma Moore joined the Cornerstone Public Affairs team in November 2023, bringing over a decade of public policy, government and strategic communications experience.

Previously he served as director for the office of Jaime Harrison, the chairman of Democratic National Committee (DNC). In this role, he served as a liaison between the Chairman and all DNC departments, stakeholders, elected officials and campaigns. Hyma also developed and executed the Chairman’s political engagement strategy across the country and served as the Chairman’s point of contact to members of Congress and federal agencies.

Before that, Hyma worked as the battleground states press secretary for the DNC where he managed the organization’s communications staffers in Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and Florida. In addition, he designed political and communications plans to promote and amplify messages for the DNC and the Biden-Harris Administration and managed relationships with key local and national media contacts.

Hyma also worked as the vice president for external affairs and communication for Greater New Orleans, Inc., which is the City’s chamber of commerce and economic development arm. He managed all communication and government affairs for the organization and CEO. Additionally, he managed key vendor relationships and contracts, and advised executive leadership and all departments on political and communication strategy, which included local elected officials, public and private university presidents and other statewide leadership.

Hyma has also served in communications and public affairs roles for Baton Rouge Chamber, the New Orleans Business Alliance, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the Hillary Clinton Campaign. He is a board member for Split Second Foundation and a former commissioner for the Housing Authority of New Orleans, Workforce Investment Board and Good Work Network.

Hyma earned his degree in economics and French literature at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and obtained a certificate in French language and culture from Université De Liège in Liege, Belgium.

Matt Paul co-founded Cornerstone’s Public Affairs practice in 2017 and has driven the team’s growth of both clients and capability. His public policy, government and strategic communications experience helps clients raise their profiles with key decisionmakers and national audiences as well as develop the overarching strategy to support their efforts.

Matt began his career as a reporter in television and radio in Eastern Iowa. He entered politics at the local level, working for two mayors of his hometown of Cedar Rapids. He then served Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack in several positions over his eight-year tenure, including press secretary, communications director, and senior advisor. Matt also has experience in state and national politics. In 2008, he managed Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) final re-election campaign. In 2011, Matt joined the Obama Administration as communications director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). At USDA, he managed a staff of 75, led message coordination efforts around the 2014 Farm Bill and directed media relations involving USDA’s seven mission areas and twenty agencies. Matt served as the Iowa State Director for the 2016 Clinton Presidential Campaign and transitioned to be the chief of staff for Vice Presidential Candidate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) , where he managed campaign strategy and operations for the candidate.

Matt is known as a trusted advisor to corporate, association and nonprofit clients. Additionally, Matt currently serves on the Advisory Board of Center Forward, the leading convener of bipartisan dialogue in DC.

Mike Reed joined the Cornerstone Public Affairs team in February 2024, bringing over 17 years of public policy, government and strategic communications experience.

Mike joins the firm following his time at the Republican National Committee (RNC), where he held several roles, most recently being chief of staff. Mike oversaw all the operations of the RNC, including managing 10 department directors, a headquarters staff of over 300 and field operations of more than 1,000 employees. Mike led a team that delivered historic victories for the Republican Party, including winning back the House of Representatives in 2022, and countless Senate, House, Governor and down-ballot races across the country. In addition, he served as the point of contact for all 168 members of the RNC as well as major stakeholders in Republican politics.

Mike previously served as the deputy chief of staff for communications. In this role, he directed public affairs campaigns of national significance, including confirmations of Supreme Court justices and White House cabinet officials, along with rapid response teams for national news events. He also worked with major national news reporters to place stories and opposition research.

Prior to joining the RNC, Mike served as the communications director for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. During his time there, he developed and implemented communications strategies for the Office of the Governor and oversaw public relations outreach for multiple state agencies. He served as on-the-record spokesperson for the Governor and organized and executed major public announcements and public events.

Mike holds a bachelor’s in public policy from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Kelsey Schuster joined the Cornerstone Public Affairs team as an Associate in the DC office in August 2024, where she executes public affairs strategies across the aerospace and defense, technology, and corporate sectors.

At Cornerstone, Kelsey leverages her expertise in media relations, social media strategy, crisis communications, and stakeholder engagement to provide impactful solutions for clients. Prior to joining Cornerstone, Kelsey served as an Associate at Powell Tate, the public affairs unit of the Weber Shandwick Collective. In this role, she worked with clients in the defense, financial services, and technology sectors.

Kelsey holds a bachelor’s degree in strategic communication with a minor in sports media and political science from the University of Colorado Boulder’s School of Communication, Media and Information.

Ben Sheidler joined the firm in September 2021 as the first public affairs and strategic communications professional in the Atlanta, Georgia office. He has spent his career helping companies and organizations strengthen their public perception by focusing on the intersection of corporate reputation, public policy, crisis, and issues communications.

While at Cornerstone, Ben has specialized in helping organizations and companies effectively communicate about economic development issues. Leaning on his experience with crisis and reputation management, Ben has helped economic development clients navigate the complexities of community and public relations with a focus on advanced manufacturing, bio, hi-tech, and the emerging electric mobility industry. In his role at Equifax, Ben focused on driving a new company narrative and implementing new communications approaches rooted in measurement and impact. In addition, he was responsible for managing crisis and policy communications, launching the company’s first online newsroom and creating other external communications content in support of the company’s transformation efforts. Before Equifax, Ben worked in various government relations and public affairs positions at The Coca-Cola Company for more than a decade, ultimately serving as the director of external communications, where he helped craft public policy positions and accompanying communications strategies.

He started his career in government affairs at the Georgia Beverage Association and then the American Beverage Association in Washington, D.C. Ben graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia where he majored in political science.

Cassie Smedile brings more than 15 years of on-the-record political communications experience across Capitol Hill, national party committees, and the private sector. She most recently served as Vice President of Marketing at Coign, where she managed a $3.5 million annual marketing budget, implemented branding and advertising strategies to scale the company’s customer base, and oversaw the Coign Charity program, which has donated more than $1 million to values-aligned organizations. Prior to her work at Coign, Cassie served as Executive Director of America Rising, where she managed both the organization’s C4 and Super PAC operations. In that role, she developed a sustainable small-dollar fundraising program and oversaw communications efforts that influenced hundreds of media stories related to the Biden Administration and Democratic policy priorities. Earlier in her career, Cassie held multiple senior communications roles at the Republican National Committee, including National Press Secretary and Deputy Communications Director. She served as a principal national spokesperson for the RNC, managed communications planning across departments, and played a key role in creating and executing the 2020 RNC Convention’s virtual pre-programming. Cassie also secured national media coverage highlighting the RNC’s political and grassroots efforts. Cassie spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, serving as Communications Director for Senator Todd Young and Congressman Sean Duffy, and holding communications roles for multiple Members of Congress and House leadership offices. She is well known for her frequent appearances on national television, radio, and podcasts, advocating for conservative policy priorities. Cassie earned her Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University.

TJ Tatum brings nearly 15 years of experience in communications, public affairs, government, and politics. TJ provides strategic counsel on stakeholder engagement, trade and regulatory issues, government investigations, crisis management and long-term corporate positioning programs.

Prior to joining Cornerstone, TJ served as a principal at Sard Verbinnen & Co, a global strategic communications consultancy, where he advised clients on all aspects of financial communications in connection with bankruptcies, high-profile mergers and acquisitions and other special situations. Before his time in the private sector, he served in House Republican leadership as deputy director of communications for then-Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), where he developed and executed messaging and communications strategy for the Whip and the broader House Republican leadership team. During his time on the Hill, TJ also served as communications director of the Republican Study Committee and in policy and communications roles for members of the Florida and Texas congressional delegations. TJ also has deep political experience having worked on numerous congressional, gubernatorial and state house campaigns.

A native Floridian, TJ earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College and currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Lauren Tomlinson joined Cornerstone in August 2024, expanding the firm’s public affairs practice and bringing over 15 years of experience working at the highest levels of government and corporate America.

Most recently, Lauren provided strategic communications counsel for Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, non-profits and advocacy organizations, with an expertise in crisis, policy, executive, internal, financial, regulatory and stakeholder communications. She came to Cornerstone after co-founding Steer PR, a national security-focused public affairs firm, and running her own company, Claffey Communications.

Before founding Claffey Communications, Lauren served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, where she was responsible for managing the Department of Homeland Security’s strategic communications. In that role, Tomlinson led interagency communications initiatives, coordinating with the White House, the National Security Council and agency policy communications across the government, including those with jurisdiction on aviation security, cybersecurity, counterterrorism and disaster response. She served and worked directly with three department secretaries and the administration’s senior policy, national security and legal teams, communicating on international and domestic policy issues to key national and foreign media. Lauren also led internal and external communication strategies to address major homeland security issues. In addition to overseeing the DHS’s employee, stakeholder and digital communications, Lauren prepared the secretaries for international ministerial visits, congressional testimonies, media interview and speeches.

Other roles she has held in the past include Director, Corporate Communications for Southern Company, Senior Director for Rational 360, and Communications Director for the U.S. Senate, Senate Intelligence Committee. Also, Lauren was an on-camera commentator for CNN, BBC, MSNBC, CBS and Fox News.

Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Georgia and her master’s in corporate communications and public relations from Georgetown University.

Kirsten brings valuable experience to the Cornerstone team after serving for a decade on Capitol Hill and working for high-profile members of Congress with politically challenging states and districts. As a principal on the Public Affairs team, she utilizes her extensive strategic communications experience to help our clients achieve their goals.

Kirsten was previously deputy chief of staff to Rep. Underwood (D-IL). During her time there, she was the congresswoman’s national spokesperson, and oversaw communications including creation of press releases, speeches, media events, interviews, social media, email campaigns, mailers and paid advertisements. She created a multi-faceted and aggressive communications operation for Rep. Underwood as a new member of Congress, and carried a tailored brand through digital, earned, and paid media to establish one of the largest followings of the freshman class of the 116^th Congress.

Prior to her time with Rep. Underwood, Kirsten was the communications director for Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN). In this role, Kirsten managed a four-member press team where she built strong, targeted media relationships and wrote press releases, op-eds, memos, debate preparation books, and talking points. She provided political counsel for the senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee through two controversial Supreme Court nominations.

She has pitched, booked, and prepared members of Congress for major interviews with outlets including Meet the Press, The Daily Show, New York Times, Fox News Sunday, CBS This Morning, Harper’s Baazar, The Washington Post and many more.

Kirsten is a native of West Des Moines, Iowa and currently resides in Washington, DC.