Rebecca Kirszner Katz has over 15 years of local, state, and national communications experience, working for the federal government, on political campaigns, and in issue-advocacy efforts on behalf of non-profit groups. Katz has expertise in communications planning and strategy, social media, rapid response, media relations, and message development. Highlights of her work include helping shape the communications strategy for Bill de Blasio’s come-from-behind primary win for New York City Mayor, running Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s War Room, assisting with the planning and execution of the White House’s communications strategy for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s smooth path to confirmation, and helping Planned Parenthood fight back against the unprecedented assault on women’s health after Republicans assumed control of Congress in 2010. In addition to her traditional communications role at Hilltop, Katz also directs social media strategy for of a variety of political campaigns and advocacy organizations. In this capacity, she assists clients in planning communications strategies across all media platforms, working closely with her clients to craft effective messages and to translate these plans into an overall strategy. Based in New York City, Katz currently serves as an advisor to Bill de Blasio, the Democratic Nominee for Mayor. In 2010, she led communications strategy for Gustavo Rivera’s winning campaign against New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada (who was dubbed “the poster child of Albany dysfunction”). Katz also has a long history of guiding Western Democrats on strategy and messaging. In her role as a top advisor to Project New America, she organized communications efforts and social media strategy for PNA’s Western Summits, gatherings of hundreds of federal, state, and local leaders and activists. In addition, Katz has deep ties to Missouri, where she has worked for statewide candidates, including Attorney General Chris Koster. Katz hails from Philadelphia, where she has worked for both Representatives Chaka Fattah and Allyson Schwartz and served as Pennsylvania Communications Director for America Coming Together. Katz has a BA from Clark University and a Master’s in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government, where she has also taught graduate courses on congressional politics. Services: - Social & New Media - Strategic Communications - Political Campaigns