Chad Kolton

MANAGING PARTNER

With nearly 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors, Chad Kolton has established an expertise in developing public relations strategies that successfully influence policymaking and effectively respond to crises at the global, national and regional levels. As a spokesperson for Republican and Democrat administrations, he has been quoted in nearly every major media outlet in the country and has created and placed opinion content in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs.

Chad has extensive experience in providing executive-level public relations counsel and in implementing comprehensive media strategies. He has headed the public affairs office for both the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In both positions, he developed communications strategies with international implications and directed national crisis response communications.

Chad has also served as the press secretary for the White House Office of Management and Budget, creating and communicating messages to support Administration initiatives on fiscal, tax, and trade policy, as well as federal regulations.

In the private sector, Chad has provided strategic communications counsel for corporate, political and government clients, including developing strategic public relations and crisis communications plans, reorganizing communications departments and providing comprehensive media relations support. His work encompassed a broad range of issues, including international affairs, homeland security, trade, energy, and regulatory oversight.

Chad began his career on Capitol Hill as deputy press secretary for the House Republican Conference under its then-Chair, U.S. Representative John Boehner (R-OH), the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jim Morrell has spent his career providing strategic communications counsel to top executives and government officials, including on Capitol Hill and at the White House. At Blueprint Communications, Jim has helped some of America’s leading companies, government entities, and trade associations move the needle on public policy issues.

Jim combines experience in both media relations and messaging. He is a former deputy chief of staff for the House Republican Conference where he oversaw the Conference’s public communications operations. He also served as a White House spokesperson under President George W. Bush where he was responsible for media outlets in fourteen states, including the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Michigan.

Jim is also an accomplished speechwriter in both the public and private sectors. He was a speechwriter for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. House Majority Whip, the Secretary of Education, and for the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign. Today, he works with executives of many of America’s leading companies and trade associations, helping them communicate effectively to external and internal audiences, including members and boards.

He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and two sons.

Mark Dion

MANAGING PARTNER

Mark Dion is a veteran public affairs and political communications strategist. With nearly three decades of experience working at the highest levels of government and politics, Mark serves as the primary strategic and creative consultant to political committees, industry associations, issue groups, foreign governments and politicians.

Serving at the forefront of some of the most visible issue advocacy campaigns, Mark has developed, managed and executed key national, statewide and DC-centric advertising and grassroots campaigns. As a battle-tested campaign consultant and strategist, Mark has played an important role for candidates for president, governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House – winning in some of the most difficult political environments in the country.

Prior to joining Blueprint, Mark founded and built a highly successful public affairs firm that specialized in developing fully-integrated issue and branding campaigns. In recent years, Mark has directed a series of high-profile issue advertising campaigns for the National Association of Manufacturers, provided strategic advice to Daytona International Speedway and the International Speedway Corp., and produced a series of ads for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Mark started his career as an aide in the U.S. Senate, served as a chief of staff and legislative director in the U.S. House of Representatives, guided a political action committee for a major national trade association, lobbied on federal health care issues, and managed campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Mark earned his degree from Syracuse University where he had a lot of fun serving as the school’s mascot, “Otto the Orange.” He and his wife Stacey, live in Washington, D.C. with their two children.