On this episode of ITK Radio, a conversation with Kevin Madden.

Kevin is a senior partner at Penta, helping lead the firm’s integration of strategic advisory, advocacy, communications, and issue management capabilities for clients around the globe.

Prior to Penta, Kevin was an executive vice president at Arnold Ventures, where he helped build and implement advocacy teams and strategies for one of the country’s leading philanthropies, achieving major policy reforms at the federal, state, and local levels.

Kevin also previously served as a partner at Hamilton Place Strategies, leading the firm’s design and management of comprehensive public affairs campaigns while working with CEOs and their executive teams. Kevin served as the firm’s lead strategist for several national policy reform coalitions and major corporate M&A campaigns and worked with leading philanthropic and non-profit organizations to develop and implement their advocacy capabilities.

Kevin served as a senior strategist and spokesman on three presidential campaigns, most notably the Romney for President campaign in 2012. In addition to his national campaign experience, Kevin was a top congressional leadership staffer in the US House of Representatives, serving as spokesman and communications strategist in the Office of the House Majority Leader. Kevin also served as deputy director of public affairs and national spokesman for the Department of Justice.

Kevin’s experience as a frequent guest on national and international news outlets has earned him a reputation as a sought-after media strategist and crisis communications manager. He also served as an on-air contributor to CNN from 2013 to 2019.

Kevin is a native of New York and earned a degree from the State University of New York at Cortland. He has been a frequent guest lecturer on advocacy and communications strategy at Georgetown University, American University, and the National War College. He lives in Maryland with his wife and their three sons.

You can find Kevin on LinkedIn here.

Insights + Ideas:

+ Working on Capitol Hill in the 00s vs. the 20s

+ After 9/11, the pull to get involved in American politics from all walks of life

+ The communications power comes from the "mobility of information"

+ "any Member of Congress has much access to the media cycle as anyone in leadership"

+ "we are in a 24 second news cycle seven days a week"

+ To be successful in communications, "you need to think a lot more like an executive producer at a content machine"

+ Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, New Hampshire

+ As a campaign communications pro, understand the real value of spending time with the candidate to get to know them and build trust, getting on the campaign trail to see how the message is resonating and hearing from voters, plus the ability to build relationships with reporters and columnists at regional and local newspapers

+ How to build trust with high-profile executives, politicians, and campaign principals

+ Understanding how to be an ambassador between a campaign and reporters

+ The difference between an incumbent campaign and an insurgent campaign

+ Thoughts on the business developments of media organizations and cable news companies

+ What to look for in the early days of Election 2024

+ To win the GOP presidential nomination, candidates need to understand “there is no path around Donald Trump, and you can only go out and take the nomination”

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