WHO WE ARE
Founded by nationally-recognized strategist Jill Alper, we are a full-service innovative strategic planning, media, and public affairs firm that designs solutions as unique as the challenges facing your campaign, non-profit, or business.
JILL ALPER
FOUNDER
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When the stakes are high and there’s a tough problem to solve, leaders of all kinds turn to Jill and her colleagues for strategies and creativity that produce results.
A nationally recognized strategist with a winning record at the highest levels of politics and advocacy, Jill specializes in orchestrating historic results. She brings cutting-edge technologies and spot-on media and message products to sway decision-making audiences. As an award-winning consultant for best in class strategy and media advertising, Jill curates unique expert teams and strategies to meet your challenge. Her motto, “We’re different, just like you.”
Her novel approaches to public and government affairs work - and leadership training - has made a difference for citizens, elected and community leaders alike.
Formerly the Political Director and Coordinated Campaign Director of the Democratic National Committee, Jill has worked with campaigns in all 50 states and is a veteran of eight presidential races - providing her with a unique perspective on the contours of our country and significant reach.
Though she continues to support leaders throughout the U.S., Jill is based in suburban Detroit, where she’s worked on winning campaigns in Michigan for over 35 years, serving as a Senior Strategist for leaders like Mayor Dave Bing, Governor Jennifer Granholm and the former Senator Carl Levin - and numerous presidential campaigns; for independent issue committees supporting candidates like Mayor Mike Duggan; and, on ballot initiatives to legalize stem cell research, to save the Detroit Institute of Arts, and to end gerrymandering.
Most recently Jill served as General Strategist and Media Consultant for Reproductive Freedom For All, a coalition that created and campaigned for Proposal 3, a constitutional amendment that ended Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban and firmly restored reproductive rights to millions of Michiganders. The non-partisan Proposal 3 received more votes than the statewide candidates, and swept Democrats into the majority of both legislative chambers for the first time in 40 years. She played the same role for Proposal 2, in 2018, a campaign to end gerrymandering led by Voters Not Politicians.
The American Association of Political Consultants honored her work for Governor Jennifer Granholm as “Campaign Manager of the Year,” a recognition often given to presidential campaign managers and seldom given to women.
She graduated from Boston College with a BA in Political Science/Philosophy. Occasionally you will find her teaching a campaigns or ballot initiatives class at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, or in the stands at her son’s athletic games, cheering and kibutzing about her beloved bulldog, Hazen.
OUR TEAM
ALLISON BAKER
PRINCIPAL, DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MEDIA & PRODUCTION
When it comes to producing savvy creative that moves the needle, on time and on budget, Allison gets it done.
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Allison is an award-winning director and producer who’s been on location overseeing and directing production crews all over North America for over 18 years. She thrives on being involved in every step of the process, from initial concept to scripting to directing, editing and final delivery.
Allison’s film production career began over two decades ago, when she worked in various capacities on seven of Director Robert Rodriguez’ feature films. From there she used her filmmaking experience to produce hundreds of broadcast television and radio spots with Joe Slade White. Campaigns including Democratic candidates, initiatives, and corporations, such as AT&T, The Pickens Plan, and the Michigan Democratic Party, as well as multiple Senate, Congressional, Gubernatorial races. It was during this time she first met Jill. Collaborating with Jill and Joe on multiple winning campaigns, including Governor Jennifer Granholm, CURE Michigan and Mayor Dave Bing, just to name a few.
Allison spearheaded creative content initiatives for IDW Entertainment, creating social marketing and bonus material content for IDWE’s stable of shows, most notably Wynonna Earp (SYFY) where she received eight Telly Awards for the branded content she created, produced and directed.
Most recently, she led ASM’s production team, creating spots for Reproductive Freedom For All, the campaign to support to the passage of Proposal 3, to restore the reproductive rights to millions of Michiganders among other large-scale independent expenditure and non-partisan integrated media efforts for voter participation.
Allison graduated from St. Edward's University with a BA in Communications. She loves to talk about baseball, is a huge New York Mets fan, a proud mother of one and lives with her family in Portland, OR.
KRISTY PRITZL
DIRECTOR OF FIRM CLIENTS & MEDIA OPERATIONS
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Managing a strategic plan with discipline is the difference between winning and losing. Kristy brings an unparalleled focus to planning and implementation for flawless execution.
Kristy manages operations for ASM’s media, government and public affairs and leadership practices across our staff team and collaborators.
She played an integral role in coordinating the operations of Proposal 3 - during the phase of a $36M general election campaign, by leading the recruitment and vetting of talent for ads, developing materials for strategy and media meetings, ensuring implementation of deliverables and activities, and ensuring coordination of multiple firm collaborators.
Prior to joining the ASM team, Kristy was a regional manager for Stitch Fix, an online retailer based in California, driving strategic initiatives. She brings her experience juggling multiple business lines, managing operational budgets, and building a diverse talent pipeline to her work at ASM for our government affairs, public affairs and leadership client partners.
Kristy is an advocate at heart and during her undergraduate studies, wrote a research paper on the lack of regulations in the personal care products industry that was later published by Baylor University. During graduate school at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, she focused her studies on democratic engagement matters including campaigns, ballot initiatives, and electoral processes.
Kristy loves sports (Go Bears! Go Blue!). She’s an avid reader, and although she’s a bit of a Peloton junkie, she never says no to a chocolate chip cookie! She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two fur babies, Harvey and Spencer.
ALLAIRE DONOHUE SWART
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING & GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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Seeing the common interests of changemakers and building an action plan to build collective action is an art which Allaire has mastered and employs to improve the communities where she works.
Allaire focuses on community organizing, coalition building, outreach and community engagement. She conducts background research, designs and implements effective public affairs plans,ensuring visibility, person-to-person connection and mobilization.
She is deft at curating research-based government affairs plans and managing the cadence of their implementation, ensuring our client partners interests stay top of mind for public policy decision-makers.
Allaire has built her work from her experience working on campaigns and with nationally recognized, top-flight organizers, on leadership and grassroots programs.
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Allaire is originally from Grand Rapids Michigan and has a BA in Political Science, Spanish and International Studies from the University of Michigan.
ANGELA SHIUE
DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION
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Managing people, time and money are at the center of dynamic work plans, often governed by complicated timelines, budgets and contracts, which we honor to a T.
Angela oversees firm administration by creating agreements that include large-scale budgets, timelines and contracts for client projects, with precision. She is responsible for the firm’s financial operations and human resources so the team can focus on our client’s content and engagement needs.
Angela has extensive experience curating events of all kinds and sizes, including virtual engagements and fundraisers for constituents with prominent Michigan leaders and in-depth conferences for executives.
She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Political Science and currently resides in Boston, MA with her fiance.
ALEX FAHLE
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
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Information is at the heart of any comprehensive strategy. Alex brings joy to collecting and analyzing any body of research to ground our work in what really matters.
From conducting research, to crafting briefing materials, to checking visuals and script accuracy for spots, Alex provides what’s needed to solidly support any argument. From fact sheets to ad justifications, he’s nimble and ready to write for a myriad of audiences.
Alex works across all of ASM’s practices - exploring local, county or state policies from the apex of electoral campaigns or public policy and public affairs endeavors. He produces reports, PowerPoints and project summaries.
Alex is originally from Grosse Pointe, MI and has a BA in Political Science and German from Kalamazoo College, where he wrote his senior paper on the challenge of gerrymandering.
Alex has played both violin and viola at home and in orchestra, enjoys hiking at local trails and nature preserves, and loves traveling to new places.
We’re dedicated to protecting democracy, advancing women’s leadership, and connecting innovative problem-solvers to government leaders and partner with clients who seek to
strengthen communities across the nation.
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Just like you.
OUR COLLABORATORS
MILES BAKER is a campaign strategist with over 12 years of experience in candidate campaigns, ballot campaigns, labor unions, and advocacy organizations. Previously, he served in the campaigns department of the National AFL-CIO and has led voter turnout programs across the country.
He is our targeting, list and voter contact expert. He has relationships on the ground across several states and taps them for strategy, field and recruitment efforts.
AGHOGHO EDEVBIE is a Michigan-based election law attorney. He has been actively involved in pro-democracy efforts for over twelve years, including spending the last two years as the state director of a voting rights organization. In the last decade, Aghogho has led poll worker and challenger recruitment efforts, developed pro-voter policies, and worked on election administration issues. His legal knowledge and background make him an invaluable collaborator on our team.
A Detroit native, Aghogho has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.
CELIA FISCHER brings extensive experience developing integrated strategic communications programs, campaigns, advertising, and messaging for political, non-profit, and corporate organizations to her strategic partnership with Alper Strategies. A member of the independent caucus of the Writers Guild of America/West, Celia holds a Master's Degree from the UCLA School of Film & Television and won first place in the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. Whether writing and producing commercials for independent expenditure groups, executing micro-budget programs for small nonprofits, or overseeing a national trade association’s complex $40 million annual advertising campaign, she balances a disciplined approach to strategy and message with her passion and respect for the creative process.
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Her reputation as an imaginative thinker and skilled strategist was earned after working on four Presidential races, directing ballot initiatives, and leading campaigns for Governor, U.S. Senate, Congress, and other offices.
MATT FRIEDMAN is a trusted and recognized non-partisan issue, business and non-profit communications strategist, helping to guide organizations of all sizes through times of change, providing counsel to governance boards, legal advisers and senior executives. His specialized experience includes working with virtually all facets of health care communications, handling litigation communications for high-profile legal matters, leading media relations operations for large business and policy events and a statewide voter information campaign.
Matt is also an experienced media trainer, combining his news and PR experience to create customized training sessions for clients nationwide to learn how to tell their stories and deliver their messages through interviews with journalists.
MINYON MOORE is considered one of the nation’s top strategic thinkers with extensive experience in political and corporate affairs, as well as public policy.
She leads Dewey Square Group’s State and Local Affairs and Multicultural Strategies practices with clients ranging from the Fortune 100 to startup nonprofits seeking counsel for developing strategies that address emerging consumer markets and achieve public policy goals. Minyon specializes in building coalitions and brand awareness strategies for corporations while at the same time effectively addressing their state and local public policy issues.
Under President Bill Clinton’s administration, Minyon served as Assistant to the President and Director of White House Political Affairs. As the CEO of the Democratic National Committee, Minyon was responsible for day-to-day operations and oversight of the Democratic Party. In 2018, Minyon served was awarded the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the AAPC Hall of Fame.
AMELIA QUILON is a communications professional with expertise in digital strategy, fundraising, and design. As a former engineer, she specializes in developing data-driven strategies to help clients make smart, creative decisions from optimizing messaging and creative to designing unique, targeted campaign content.
Amelia is a self-taught graphic and website designer with a passion for engaging voters and activists in causes that matter. She founded and co-led Voters Not Politicians, a citizen movement in Michigan that passed a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering and institute an independent citizens redistricting commission.
SAGE MEDIA brings a breadth of campaign experience coupled with extensive knowledge of the modern media landscape. Janet Katowitz, Bobby Mushroe and their team are the most innovative in developing new and effective ways to reach voters in our increasingly complex daily lives. Clients receive unrivaled attention to detail and transparency of information, including access to industry-defining competitive trackers who flag and analyze opponent or allied spending in real-time.
Sage believes in winning multi-platform campaigns, which means getting your message to the right targets at the right time for the best value. Whether you want a linear, digital, or a completely out-of-the-box campaign, the Sage Media team will guide you to the most effective plan possible.
KARLA SWIFT is a strategic organizer who understands how to move people, build power and make change. She brings experience from political, workplace and contract campaigns, including helping win candidate elections and ballot initiative campaigns; helping change anti-worker legislation and helping workers win collective bargaining rights.
Karla spent 30 years fighting for fairness and justice alongside UAW members. As immediate past President of the Michigan AFLCIO, Swift led the statewide federation of 59 affiliated labor unions in building unified, coordinated and strategic political organizing campaigns/programs to protect and advocate for the welfare and security of working families.
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She is passionate about serving the movement of everyday people and prioritizes working on projects aimed at strengthening the instruments of power for everyday people and tilting the scales toward justice and equality. In her spare time she loves hiking, swimming, yoga and most of all, spending time with her new grandson.
BUZZ THOMAS is a public affairs professional and media consultant with over 25 years of experience. Buzz spent 14 years in the Michigan legislature serving as Democratic Floor Leader in the Senate and as Democratic Leader in the House and as the Senate Campaign Committee Chair.
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He has overseen multiple multi-million dollar super pacs, candidate committees and voter education campaigns, including the 2008 Michigan Presidential campaign of Barack Obama and Turnaround Detroit, the Super PAC credited with electing Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan.
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While serving, his expertise in the areas of healthcare, education reform, business development incentives and arts and culture, a personal passion led to the creation of rigorous academic standards for Michigan schools and creation of tax incentive laws that helped spur development in Detroit.