Washington, D.C. – Today, SKDK, the leading public affairs and political advertising firm in the country, announced the hiring of several creative, paid media and political team members. Ryan Rose joins SKDK as Political Creative Director, Andy Yazdani is an Art Director, Mackey Reed is a Senior Vice President, Lucy Macintosh is a Vice President and Ileana Astorga is a Senior Associate on the Paid Media team in DC. This quintet joins a talented and diverse group of SKDK strategists who are involved in some of the most closely watched 2022 campaigns.
“I’m very excited to welcome this dynamic and diverse group of professionals to our team. More than anything, SKDK prides itself on the people who work here,” said SKDK Partner Doug Thornell. “We know that our firm is only as strong as our team members and we couldn’t be happier with the additions of Ryan, Andy, Mackey, Lucy, and Ileana. Each of them brings their own unique skills to our firm that will complement the talented team we have already assembled,” said Thornell.
As Political Creative Director, Ryan Rose will be responsible for executing compelling creative ads for SKDK’s political clients ahead of the 2022 midterms. He is an experienced media and communications professional. Prior to SKDK, Rose worked as a producer and assistant director, serving political, corporate, and creative clients in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. As a freelancer, he worked on productions for the DNC and then-candidate for New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy.
As Art Director, Andy Yazdani will help bring to fruition creative work products for SKDK’s public affairs, political, non-profit clients. He comes to SKDK from the international membership organization, Community Associations Institute (CAI) in Fall Church, VA where he served as Art Director producing creative across a large span of the organization’s seminars, workshop, conference, publication offerings.
Mackey Reed is joining SKDK’s advertising team as a Senior Vice President, where she will help lead some of the firm’s most prominent advertising clients. She comes to SKDK having served as Deputy Director of Paid Media for the Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign where she oversaw the day-to-day creative and production process for over $400 million in TV advertising. She previously worked for Everytown for Gun Safety where she served as an official spokesperson developing and executing state-by-state press relations strategies advocating for common sense gun laws and also helped oversee the major donor fundraising effort.
Lucy Macintosh is joining as Vice President on the Political team. Macintosh comes to SKDK as a longtime campaign strategist with experience managing candidate and advocacy campaigns. Previously, she was the Associate Director of Campaigns at the Hub Project and has managed some of the toughest campaigns in the country, including Representative Anthony Brindisi’s re-election. A Clinton presidential campaign alum, she has also served as Chief of Staff to VA Delegate Hala Ayala Lucy and as a member of the DCCC’s Political Department in the historic 2018 cycle.
Ileana Astorga is joining as a Senior Associate in Paid Media, where she will support political campaigns. Prior to joining SKDK, Astorga served as a Legislative Correspondent for Senator Bennet’s (D-CO) office focusing on education, foreign affairs, and infrastructure. She has experience working on local and national campaigns where she developed a deep passion for campaign work.
SKDK remains the leading political advertising firm in the nation. In 2021, SKDK advised Rep. Troy Carter on his hard fought special election victory in Louisiana’s second congressional district. SKDK’s paid media team worked closely with Rep. Shontel Brown on her amazing come from behind victory in Ohio’s 11th congressional district. The firm also helped elect Aftab Pureval as mayor of Cincinnati, the first Indian American to lead the city. In addition, SKDK has been the leading ad maker for Climate Power, which has been fighting hard to help pass President Biden’s Build Back Better bill. In 2020, SKDK partner Anita Dunn was a top advisor to the Biden for President campaign and helped to make history by electing Joe Biden as President of The United States and Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black, Asian-American and first woman, as Vice-President.
About SKDK
SKDK is a top national communications and political consulting firm bringing unparalleled strategic communications experience to Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, and labor unions, as well as political committees and candidates. With offices in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, and Albany, SKDK offers strategic support to managing a crisis, protecting a brand, advocating an issue, or winning an election.
In 2020, SKDK was a key advisor to the Biden for President campaign and helped to make history by electing Joe Biden as President of The United States and Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black, Asian-American and first woman, as Vice President. The influential Holmes Report once again named SKDK as the North America Public Affairs Agency of the Year in 2019, following wins in 2015, 2016, and 2018. To learn more about SKDK, visit our website at www.skdknick.com. SKDK is a proud member of The Stagwell Group, a collaborative group of agencies who are out to “reinvent the holding,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The Stagwell Group portfolio includes more than a dozen best-in-class, digital-first agencies who are focused on what modern CMOs need. Learn more about Stagwell at www.stagwellgroup.com.