ABOUT US

SpeakEasy is a tech-enabled political communications
firm founded to provide Democratic campaigns around
the country with access to effective, sophisticated media
strategies.

ABOUT US

SpeakEasy is a tech-enabled political communications
firm founded to provide Democratic campaigns around
the country with access to effective, sophisticated media
strategies.

ABOUT US

SpeakEasy is a tech-enabled political communications firm founded to provide Democratic campaigns around the country with access to effective, sophisticated media strategies.
Our team brings together experts across the political, technology, and media buying fields to create tools that
help our users create powerful media programs. Get to know us!
Our team brings together experts across the political, technology, and media buying fields to create tools that help our users create powerful media programs.

Get to know us!

MEET THE TEAM

MEET THE TEAM

Co-Founder
ERIC JAYE
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
DANIELLE WINTERHALTER
CEO & Co-Founder
BERGEN KENNY
Director of Growth Operations
LEAH SOFFER
Director of Campaign Strategy
KEES NORDIN
Director of Communications & Operations
KATIE PAINTER
Head of Strategy & Partnerships
ISABELLA JAYE
Digital Marketing Manager
ANAM KHAN
Campaign Success Manager
ADAM TROY
Quality Assurance Specialist
JAKOB OCASIO
Senior Media Strategist
ANNA BORSOS
Senior Ad Ops Coordinator
SARAH JOHNSON
(415) 857-4077

[email protected]
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(415) 857-4077

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Co-Founder
ERIC JAYE
Eric has 35 years of experience crafting message and strategy for the nation’s top political leaders and Fortune 200 corporations. He has served as the Chief Creative Director and Strategist at multiple political consulting firms, including Clinton Reilly Campaigns, and Terris and Jaye, Storefront Political Media and SpeakEasy Political, which he founded. Eric has earned a reputation for combining top-notch creative that helps clients achieve their strategic goals with a relentless focus on winning.
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
DANIELLE WINTERHALTER
As Managing Partner of SpeakEasy, Danielle Winterhalter specializes in multi-channel advertising, creative development, and rapid response communications – providing strategic campaign guidance and tactical media implementation to a client portfolio including Democratic causes, candidates, and impact-driven brands.

Passionate about increasing civic engagement and political access, Danielle founded SpeakEasy to support Democratic initiatives with effective media strategies up and down the ballot. Since inception, SpeakEasy’s tech-enabled ad tools – and tested political experience – have been leveraged by races in over 38 states, from school board to United States Senate.

Prior to SpeakEasy, Danielle served as a Campaign Manager, Policy Director, and political consultant where she scripted speeches, developed bipartisan policy initiatives, and executed comprehensive communication campaigns for Democratic candidates and organizations.

Outside of the office, Danielle is involved with Team Fox – the grassroots fundraising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation – where she raises funding and awareness for Parkinson’s Disease. A graduate of the University of San Francisco, she holds dual degrees in Politics and International Studies.
CEO & Co-Founder
BERGEN KENNY
Bergen has nearly twenty years of experience consulting on behalf of candidates and large organizations. Before starting SpeakEasy, she worked as a campaign operative, organizer, spokesperson and communications director for multiple members of Congress. Bergen has written, directed and produced hundreds of television and digital ads for Democratic candidates and organizations, and served as a media advisor to several state legislative caucuses. She has managed numerous legislative and congressional campaigns for Democrats across the country. Bergen was named a 2013 Rising Star by Campaigns & Elections magazine, one of the 40 Under 40 by the American Association of Political Consultants.
Director of Growth Operations
LEAH SOFFER
Leah Soffer channels her passion for increasinging accessibility to the political arena by directing SpeakEasy’s organizational growth strategies and improving SpeakEasy user experience. Before joining this team, Leah spent four years as a management consultant at Deloitte, where she provided data-driven insights to an array of clients across the private, public, and social sectors.

While pursuing her Master of Public Policy, she worked at Higher Ground Labs on their political technology accelerator program and at City Colleges of Chicago, leading an organizational growth and strategy project. She also worked at The Community Programs Accelerator at The University of Chicago, where she consulted and facilitated strategic planning workshops with non-profits on the South Side of Chicago. A Chicago native, Leah holds a Master of Public Policy from The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a BA in Economics with a minor in Dance from Scripps College in Claremont, CA.
Director of Campaign Strategy
KEES NORDIN
Kees Nordin – a proud Kentucky native – first got involved in politics on Governor Steve Beshear’s 2011 campaign – and has since been hooked. After graduating from Hobart College, Kees served for two years as a political strategist for James Carville – before joining the Democratic Party of Virginia for three cycles as the Statewide Political Director from 2015-2017. Kees went on to manage congressional, state senate, and advocacy campaigns throughout the country.

His experience fighting for labor issues, navigating non-profit fundraising, and managing local, state, and federal races contributes to his work as SpeakEasy’s Director of Campaign Strategy. When he’s not helping to sort out a thorny political issue, he enjoys throwing sticks for his black lab, Derby, at his home in Bainbridge Island in Washington state.
Director of Communications & Operations
KATIE PAINTER
Katie brings diligence to the mission and focused project management to SpeakEasy’s clients and our team. She holds 15 years of nonprofit and political marketing/communications experience – having led events fundraising departments at NARAL Pro-Choice California and at the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter. On the day to day, you can find Katie refining communications content, executing vendor logistics, supporting team operations, and managing multi-district mail programs for clients throughout the country.

Originally from Ohio, Katie holds bachelor’s degrees in English and Psychology from Indiana University and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco. She enjoys flexing her writing skills for SpeakEasy’s clients and marketing communications as the go-to reference for Brand Voice. In her free time, she has volunteered with the San Francisco Women’s March planning committee, 826 Valencia’s Mission Center Literacy Support program, and regularly serves Sunday breakfast at Glide’s Free Meals Program in the Tenderloin.
Head of Strategy & Partnerships
ISABELLA JAYE
As SpeakEasy’s Head of Strategy & Partnerships, Isabella works closely with both internal and external stakeholders to leverage the SpeakEasy platform to increase citizen engagement and reduce the barriers to entry for new voices in politics.

From large-scale digital executions to producing compelling organic social content, Isabella specializes in planning and overseeing communications across a wide range of channels. Isabella brings extensive practical experience in advertising and social media marketing, including impact-driven behavior change engagement work around 2020 Census participation and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. A San Francisco native, Isabella holds a degree in Marketing with a minor in Social Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business in New Orleans.
Digital Marketing Manager
ANAM KHAN
Anam’s sharp eye, push for innovation, and obsessive attention to detail serves SpeakEasy’s clients in her work as our Digital Marketing Manager. Each day, she leverages the latest digital media buying tools and marketing strategies to launch & optimize impactful programs for candidates up and down the ballot.

Focused on leveraging emerging media and tech solutions to elevate the voices of marginalized communities, drive voter engagement, and influence inclusive policy – her previous experience includes deep engagement in state politics, working for CA State Senator Ben Allen, and from her prior involvement in local community organizations. A Los Angeles native, Anam holds a degree in Political Science and Public Behavior with a minor in Human Rights from the University of California, Berkeley.
Campaign Success Manager
ADAM TROY
Adam Troy joined the SpeakEasy team in 2021 and brings a wealth of both campaign and technology experience to his role working across our media and engineering teams. Adam began his career working on Democratic campaigns throughout the country — including races in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Teneessee, Nebraska, and Mississippi. Prior to joining SpeakEasy, Adam graduated from coding bootcamp. A self described “political nerd,” Adam is passionate about using technology to power state and local races.

Originally from Rome, GA, Adam now resides in San Francisco and holds a BA in Spanish and Government from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Quality Assurance Specialist
JAKOB OCASIO
Jakob is a recent college graduate of the City University of New York, Hunter College, with a double major in Political Science and English Literature. He is an avid reader with a passion for literature and language. Jakob is passionate about social justice, including racial, gender, and economic equity. He is based in New York City and is thrilled to pursue a career in progressive advocacy and civic technology as a Quality Assurance Specialist at SpeakEasy Political for this upcoming election cycle.

Jakob has worked on local, state, and congressional elections across New York City. He was an intern on the Max Rose for Congress campaign in 2018. He managed field outreach for fundraising campaigns on behalf of the ACLU and PPFA, and he oversaw the day-to-day operations of ballot-access campaigns for New York State Assembly candidates in 2020.
Senior Media Strategist
ANNA BORSOS
Anna first joined the SpeakEasy team from 2017-2020 and has returned in 2022 as Senior Media Strategist. At her time away from SpeakEasy, Anna worked with national political campaigns, international sport teams, Fortune 500 retailers, and energy providers allowing her to return with a diversified strategic approach to political media. Anna and her pup, Georgia, have returned to San Francisco after a short stint in Austin, TX. Anna grew up in Sacramento, CA and studied Marketing at the University of San Francisco.
Senior Ad Ops Coordinator
SARAH JOHNSON
Sarah joins SpeakEasy for the 2022 cycle. As Senior Ad Ops Coordinator, she works to ensure clients have access to the most efficient and effective ads on the market. Before joining SpeakEasy, Sarah spent time on campaigns, at PACs, and in a small consulting firm. Over the years, she managed finances and compliance for campaigns and PACs across the country, built dynamic budgets, and organized fundraising events and call time programs for congressional and municipal races in California. Sarah was born and raised in California, but currently resides in Washington, DC. She earned a BA in Political Science from University of California, Riverside. In her free time, you can find Sarah experimenting in the kitchen or cuddling with her cat, Aubrey.
Campaign Support Associate
VERONICA CARBONELL
Veronica Carbonell is a recent graduate of Florida International University and is thrilled to be starting her career on the West Coast at SpeakEasy’s San Francisco headquarters. Hailing from Miami, she loves the sun, the beach, and reggaeton but is ready to trade that all in for cable cars, dim sum, and views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

She most recently interned at a Washington D.C. based think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, as well as on Capitol Hill. Having studied in Lyon, France, she obtained a Diploma of French and European Studies in addition to her BA in Political Science.