CIVITΛS Public Affairs Group

From strengthening communities to enhancing common sense public policy and expanding equality, our team of seasoned professionals based in Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, and Denver, is equipped with the know-how and network to get the job done.

Civitas works with leaders from across the political spectrum to forge bold, bipartisan government relations plans and to craft cutting-edge communications and marketing campaigns. We are at the helm of shaping public policy at the local, state, and federal levels. And we have the track record to prove it.

We know that for substantive wins with lasting results, this work has to be done on both sides of the aisle. Our team includes Democrats, Republicans, and Independents with deep and long-lasting relationships at the local, state, and federal level. We work with the leading pollsters and consultants from across the political spectrum who share our commitment to results.

Civitas is led by founding partners Patrick Guerriero and Bill Smith and partner Katherine Grainger. All three partners played significant roles in securing marriage equality nationwide. Bill and Patrick spearheaded the groundbreaking successful Gill Action effort to enact state laws on relationship recognition and bring conservatives into the bipartisan effort, a key part of the comprehensive strategy to get the U.S. Supreme Court to grant same-sex couples marriage rights nationwide. Katherine served as assistant counsel for civil rights to the Governor of New York where she helped write and negotiate New York’s marriage equality law. It is because of Katherine’s multi-issue expertise and intersectional knowledge, that gaining marriage rights for gay and lesbian New Yorkers did not inadvertently undercut the states existing civil rights protections.

Similarly, each of the principals at Civitas have experience leading national movements that drive lasting and transformational change. Marc Solomon served as a key architect of the movement and the national campaign director for Freedom to Marry. In this role he directed a staff of more than 25 with expertise in communications, field organizing, digital media, messaging, lobbying, public engagement, and general campaign management. Joanne Schwartz served as managing director of Gill Action where she drove research and message development, and worked to pass and protect relationship recognition and nondiscrimination legislation in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. James Dozier leads the firm’s right-of-center client portfolio and previously led Gill Action’s electoral and legislative efforts in New England and the Mountain West. And Denise Feriozzi served as the deputy executive director at EMILY’s List where she led efforts to recruit, train, and elect progressive women at the state and local levels and ran the WOMEN VOTE! program, including an historic effort that elected the U.S. Senate’s first openly LGBT senator.

We are proud of the issues and organizations we choose to work with at Civitas – all of which represent our shared value set and the difference we hope to make in society.

• Campaign Management
• Communications, Marketing, and Social Media
• Government Relations
• National Convenings and Leadership Summits
• Organizational Development
• Policy Solutions
• Public Affairs Management
• Philanthropic and Political Donor Strategies

Civitas is led by founding partners Patrick Guerriero and Bill Smith and partner Katherine Grainger. Working with in-house experts and leaders from across the political spectrum, the Civitas team forges bold, bipartisan government relations plans and crafts cutting-edge communications and marketing campaigns.

Patrick Guerriero

Founding Partner

Bill Smith

Founding Partner

Katherine Grainger, Esq.

Partner

Joanne Schwartz

Principal

Marc Solomon

Principal and National Director

James C. Dozier

Principal

Denise Feriozzi

Principal

Mary Jane Lewis

Controller

Caleb Queen

Director of Operations and Special Projects

Becca Guerra

Senior Associate

Nathan Smith

Senior Associate

Chris Cordingley

Senior Associate

Krithika Harish

Senior Associate

Alicia Diaz

Associate

Lucrezia Sanes

Project Coordinator