Matt Mackowiak
Founder and President
Matt Mackowiak is a Washington, DC based political and communications professional providing strategic consulting, government relations, and political crisis communications. Matt also makes several public speaking appearances throughout the year to companies, groups and universities.
Since he arrived in Washington, DC in 2003, Matt has served in high-level Senate, executive branch, campaign, and private sector environments and has developed a wide range of deep relationships with national, state and local media.
Mackowiak has provided political analysis for the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and ABC News, and on several radio stations throughout the country. Matt’s written analysis has appeared in Politico, the Dallas Morning News, the Washington Examiner, and on ABCNews.com.
His columns have been published in the Chicago Tribune, Austin American Statesman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly and The Daily Beast.
Matt has also guest lectured at the University of Illinois, the University of Denver, and American University, and regularly makes speeches on current political and communications strategies.
Mackowiak was most recently Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) from 2007-2009. From 2005-2007, he was Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). Before moving to Capitol Hill, Mackowiak spent time at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a political appointee, in the field during the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign, traveling for the White House advance team, and at the international public relations firm of Burson-Marsteller.
Mackowiak is from Austin, Texas, and graduated in 2003 from the University of Texas (UT), with a B.S. in Communications Studies, with a concentration in Political Communications. Aside from his professional work, he owns and manages the popular blog site www.potomacflacks.com, recently cited by the Washingtonian as one of the best political blogs on the internet.
John Reid
Vice President
John Reid is a crisis and political communications consultant who works with companies and candidates to identify and effectively address vulnerabilities before they become public liabilities.
For a decade before coming to Washington, Reid was a television news anchor and investigative reporter at the ABC television station in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. There, he anchored extended coverage of the DC sniper story, news surrounding the 9-11 attacks, numerous election cycles and assorted hurricanes and blizzards. Reid has worked as a news producer for the CBS affiliate station in Waco, Texas handling news coverage of the aftermath of the Branch Davidian tragedy.
Reid spent two and a half years as the Communications Director for U.S. Senator George Allen of Virginia during the Senator’s efforts to build a legislative record of achievement, solidify and grow support in Virginia and gain national attention for a potential presidential bid. While Reid did not work for Allen’s ill-fated re-election campaign, he saw up close the decisions -- good and bad -- that shaped the race that ultimately turned over control of the Senate to the Democrats. During his time on Capitol Hill, Reid also served as President of the Senate Press Secretaries Association.
He most recently worked as the Senior Director of Editorial Communications for the world's largest business federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he lead the press outreach operation and served as executive editor of their monthly magazine.
Reid is a graduate of Baylor University with a degree in political science. Upon graduation, he was selected to serve as an intern to former President Ronald Reagan and assistant to the press secretary in the Reagan office in Los Angeles.
Today, Reid resides in both Washington, D.C., and Richmond and travels extensively speaking on communications and political strategy. In 2007 and again in 2008, he traveled to Iraq to present communications seminars to members of the Iraqi Parliament. He is an Eagle Scout, a longtime member of the Radio Television News Directors Association and currently serves on the development board of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.