Team Archive - CRAFT Media | Digital
Brian Donahue

Brian
Donahue

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

About

With two decades of experience in the political and public affairs arena, Brian founded CRAFT with the vision of innovating the communications industry by delivering integrated campaigns and cutting-edge creative that move audiences to action.

Under his leadership, CRAFT has grown from a five-person consultancy to a 40-person agency, employing media experts, communications strategists, developers, and artists. Today, CRAFT is recognized as a top Washington, DC based agency, and has been recognized as a leading agency by PR News, PR Week, and the Public Affairs Council, and has brought home numerous Telly, Webby, Pollie, Web3, Reed, and Communicator Awards. 

A veteran strategist, Brian has developed communications and advertising campaigns for Fortune 100 brands, top industry associations, and some of Washington’s leading political and advocacy organizations. 

His reputation for making a positive and measurable impact on brands and organizations includes work for Walmart, Accenture, Expedia, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association, the International Franchise Association, Verizon, the National Retail Federation, American Petroleum Institute, and numerous other clients. 

Brian’s work and analysis have been sourced in top news outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News & World Report. Brian was formerly a political commentator on Fox News Channel and MSNBC. 

When Brian isn’t in the office, you can find him listening to the Grateful Dead or spending time with his wife and daughter in Georgetown.

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Brian Donahue

Jared
Michael

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel

About

An attorney and communicator who helps clients navigate the most sensitive issues in the high-stakes court of public opinion, Jared has provided messaging, public affairs, and crisis communications consulting to a “who’s who” of America’s leading trade associations and corporations. His clients include Global Automakers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Fraternities and Sororities, and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

Jared also brings a wealth of leadership experience to CRAFT’s business and operations. As COO of the David All Group, Jared led a cutting edge digital public relations and advocacy firm representing some of the largest interest groups and tech companies, including Lenovo, the Consumer Technology Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association, Hewlett Packard, Google, and ATK. This is on top of his almost ten years of experience in corporate law with practice including mergers and acquisitions, as well as trademark and copyright litigation.

Jared graduated from Linfield College and The American University, Washington College of Law. He is admitted to practice in Maryland and The District of Columbia.

Jared lives in the District and is a native Montanan.

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Brian Donahue

Layle
Nelson

Senior Vice President

About

Layle brings more than two decades of experience in advising clients on integrated public affairs strategies to position their brands and issues. Her expertise in developing issue advocacy, reputation, and public education campaigns guides clients through high-stakes issues and reputational challenges. Layle’s work has included campaigns around Medicare reforms, prescription affordability, financial services reform, health care reform, legal reform, trade policy, and energy and resource development, among others. Her work has helped protect and enhance industry and company reputations; created award-winning employee engagement programs; built enduring grassroots movements; and has achieved countless legislative victories at the state and federal levels. Prior to joining CRAFT, Layle was a Senior Vice President at APCO Worldwide where she led the issue advocacy, grassroots, and coalition offering.

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Brian Donahue

Wes
Battle

Senior Vice President

About

Wes leads CRAFT’s media relations efforts, where he specializes in earned media, crisis communications, and executive positioning. 

Serving ten years in the U.S. Navy, Wes flew the S-3B Viking carrier aircraft during wartime operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was designated a Viking Tactics Instructor. He served in the Pentagon as Speechwriter to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and as an International Affairs analyst for the Secretary of the Navy.

Wes was a Congressional Communications Director focusing on Naval seapower and readiness for the House Armed Services Committee. Prior to his military service, Wes wrote at George magazine and as a reporter covering Madison Avenue for The New York Times.

Wes led an international campaign that successfully reinstated the sport of wrestling to the Summer Olympics as the Chief of Staff for the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) in 2013.

A native Pittsburgher, Wes graduated from the University of Virginia and earned an M.B.A. from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Wes is a lifetime athlete and competitor — a college wrestler, an avid golfer and three-time Ironman triathlon finisher, including the 2011 World Championships in Kona. He lives in Georgetown with his wife and three young children.

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Brian Donahue

Sinead
Casey

Senior Vice President

About

Sinead plays a key role in the agency's leadership, managing account teams, creative strategy, and new business initiatives. Sinead has built CRAFT’s event and experiential marketing practice from the ground up and leads CRAFT's award-winning political action committee (PAC) practice. 

A natural collaborator and a battle-tested problem solver,  Sinead has the ability to connect the dots between mediums, disciplines, and people. Sinead is well versed in advocacy-driven communications, digital media, brand building, and advancing business initiatives. She leads accounts across CRAFT's media, digital and public affairs channels, developing and executing strategies for clients including national trade associations, international corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and political organizations.

 In 2019, Sinead was recognized by PRNEWS as Account Director of the Year.

Sinead is a graduate of the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. Frequently spotted with a Compass Coffee in hand, Sinead lives in Shaw and loves crossing countries and scuba diving sites off of her bucket list.

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Brian Donahue

Isabelle
Leichtman

Vice President

About

As Vice President, Isabelle manages human resources, finance, and operations for CRAFT. She oversees the Operations Team and is heavily engaged in the operational growth and strategic trajectory of the company.

Prior to joining CRAFT, Isabelle was Operations Manager at AdvantEdge Business Centers where she oversaw the day-to-day operations and administrative services for all full-time and virtual clients for their downtown D.C. location. Before that, Isabelle was the working group and operations coordinator at the Application Developers Alliance, a non-profit global membership organization that supported app developers. While at the Alliance, she assisted with general operations and the coordination of work products for publication.

Isabelle holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Outside of the office, you can find her exploring new restaurants and exhibits in the D.C. area.

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Brian Donahue

Zachary
Hooper

Vice President

About

Zachary has two decades experience developing and executing successful public relations campaigns. Whether an organization is targeting policymakers, business partners, or the general public, Zachary specializes in generating media placements that move the needle for his clients.

Throughout his work, Zachary draws on an intuitive understanding of interplay between the New York City media environment and Beltway thought-leadership. He has advised clients including the Council on Foreign Relations, TransUnion, the John Templeton Foundation, Spreemo Health, Trust for Learning, and The Atlantic, Newsweek and Pacific Standard magazines.

Most recently, Zachary was principal of Calibogue Communications, providing communications counsel across sectors from international affairs and health care to energy and education.

Previously, Zachary was Director of Public Affairs for the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a think tank driving principled policy solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation and respectful dialogue.

During his 11 years as Senior Vice President with The Rosen Group, Zachary helped the firm triple in size, expand into the Washington, D.C. market and broaden its media and non-profit practices.

A graduate of Bowdoin College, Zachary resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife, son, and rescue dog.

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Brian Donahue

Sridhar
Shankar

Head of Technology

About

Sri helps build and lead CRAFT's award-winning digital technology team, tapping over a decade of information technology experience, delivering products and campaigns with creative and successful solutions. As a leader, Sri offers a blend of data, technology, and business acumen to support digital transformation efforts that deliver on client objectives.

As Head of Technology, Sri oversees all aspects of SDLC and maintenance of products, websites, and marketing campaigns, and specializes in user experience, strategic planning, data modeling, web development, server implementation, benchmarking performance, and implementing alternate hardware and software solutions. 

Sri comes to CRAFT from DCI Group, where he developed open-source responsive CMS systems, custom modules, plug-ins to support various functionalities. He has also worked for Citibank as a Senior Technical Associate and for Benq-Siemens as a Software Engineer.

Sri holds a Master's degree in Information Systems from George Mason University and a BS in Engineering in Information Technology from the University of Mumbai.

In his spare time, Sri loves adventure sports and is a die-hard cricket fan. He recently adopted a Goldendoodle puppy named Kulfi and enjoys spending time with his best friend.

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Brian Donahue

Ken
Jaffe

Head of Creative

About

Ken is passionate about all things creative and the art of applying his CRAFT (no pun intended) to the ever-growing creative space. He earned his stripes working alongside some of most influential people and companies the industry has to offer. His past work experience at some of the world's top advertising firms, such as Barbarian Group, Razorfish, AKQA and most recently with us at CRAFT, has focused his attention to the demanding needs of the creative world. As a lifelong artist, he has mastered many different types of media alongside his training in art direction.

Ken has worked on leading brands such as Mercedes Benz, Verizon, Delta, UBIsoft, USPS, Activation, Samsung, General Electric, Firefox, and Google to name a few. At CRAFT, he leads our creative efforts with his team of artists, who are obsessed with achieving visual excellence.

Ken earned his BFA in Visual Communication Design from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. He later attended the School of Visual Arts, within their portfolio school for advertising. In his free time, he enjoys hiking around the DMV with his dog, Ollie, and caring for his cute little baby boy, Sam, with his amazing wife Stacey and their family.

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Brian Donahue

Becky
Boles

Senior Advisor

About

Becky Boles oversees client accounts and people operations. A 20-year communications and public affairs veteran, Becky brings broad industry experience and deep expertise in strategy, messaging, digital, advertising, design, and production to the client services role. She leads teams serving Fortune 100 companies, trade associations, and a variety of specialized clients for the agency. She also oversees talent management across the firm.

Prior to joining CRAFT, Becky was a Senior Vice President and Group Leader at APCO where she led some of the agency’s largest public affairs and advocacy clients. At APCO, she also created and led APCO+, a program designed to recruit and train entry-level talent.

Before that, she was Managing Director at the David All Group (DAG), a social media start-up. There, she led a global account team and oversaw digital strategy for a variety of clients including Google, Intel, Lenovo, and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

Becky started her career at Golin, working in the company’s Chicago, London and Washington, D.C. offices leading some of the agency’s largest global consumer accounts, including McDonald’s, SC Johnson, Dow Chemical and Rosetta Stone. Becky spearheaded Golin’s biggest-ever PR campaign, the Dow Live Earth Run for Water. 

Over the course of her career, Becky has won numerous industry awards. She’s part of the Public Affairs Council Advocacy Conference Advisory Committee, the DC Marketing Summit, and Washington Women in PR. 

Becky lives in the District with her husband and daughters.

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