New York, NY – SKDK today announced that Jen Bluestein, a leading strategist whose career in public affairs and advocacy spans today’s most pressing public policy and regulatory challenges, will join the firm as a principal.
Bluestein has spent more than 20 years helping advocacy organizations, philanthropic institutions and political leaders navigate complex policy environments, build coalitions and drive public engagement around major social and political issues. Her work has included communications, campaigns, organizing and institutional leadership at some of the country’s most influential organizations.
Most recently, Bluestein served as senior director of policy and advocacy at Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, where she led work across gender and reproductive equity, education, voting rights and criminal justice reform. She has also held senior leadership roles at NARAL Pro-Choice America (now Reproductive Freedom for All) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led large multidisciplinary teams and helped shape advocacy, communications and policy strategies focused on educational opportunity and economic mobility.
“Jen has operated at the center of some of the defining advocacy and political fights of the last two decades,” said Kerri Lyon, Partner. “Very few have her range of experience or understand as well as she does how to move organizations from ideas and strategy to campaigns that actually break through.”
Mike Morey, President of SKDK, added, “Jen has built campaigns, led large, well-resourced organizations, advised major institutions and their leadership, and helped shape movements. She brings a deep understanding of how public opinion, communication, and political influence can make or break an organization.”
Bluestein also helped launch GIFFORDS alongside former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Senator Mark Kelly. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles at EMILYs List and Teach For America, where she founded Leadership for Educational Equity, focused on building long-term civic and political leadership pipelines.
“I’ve spent my career navigating big, complex challenges and now feels like the right time to accelerate that work with the talent and capabilities of SKDK,” said Bluestein. “After many years of working closely with teams at SKDK, I’ve seen firsthand the firm’s campaign mindset and its understanding of how to deliver for clients in a fast-moving digital world. I can’t wait to get to work.”