Doug is an experienced communications strategist who has spent his career at the intersection of politics and media, developing strategies to help organizations break through, define the issues, engage audiences and win.

Doug specializes in campaign development, strategic communications, media relations and paid media. He has developed winning communication strategies for some of the nation’s largest progressive advocacy organizations and coalitions.

Throughout his career, Doug has worked with organizations to develop winning campaigns that launch, advance and cement their brands, earn millions of dollars in “free” earned media, and develop engaged memberships.

Doug has helped lead campaigns to ensure congressional passage of the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank financial reform and the Iran deal, as well as take on the NFL over domestic abuse, challenge Google for misleading anti-abortion ads, and raise wages for minimum-wage federal contract workers.

Prior to UpShift Strategies, Doug was managing director at FitzGibbon Media, the Washington director of Fenton Communications, chief of staff and communications director on Capitol Hill and on numerous campaigns.

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Follow Doug on Twitter @dgordon52

Courtney Hytower brings a range of experience at the intersection of strategic communications and systems thinking to the UpShift team.

With an eye for cultivating best practices and a passion for innovation, Courtney approaches every project with the goal of expanding the reach and social impact of her clients.

As a consultant, Courtney has helped organizations design internal frameworks for diversity, equity and inclusion. She also advised national campaigns in the 2018 cycle on expanding voter registration and turnout efforts.

Prior to consulting, Courtney was a communications assistant with Democracy Fund, where she was a thought partner in building the foundation’s influence and researching opportunities to connect with audiences on the issues affecting our democracy.

Since her first communications job during the 2014 election cycle with the DCCC, Courtney has developed a deep commitment to progress and investing in the social power of audiences to spark positive change.

Michael has 30+ years experience developing communications campaigns on progressive issues. He has focused on a diversity of issues including climate change, tech platform disinformation, LGBTQ and transhealth rights, plastics pollution and petrochemicals, and fossil fuel financial regulation. Michael has served as senior strategic counsel for CEOs, built and led digital practices, developed media relations teams, and conducted trainings ranging from messaging to campaign planning.

Before co-founding UpShift, he was executive vice president at Spitfire Strategies where he built the company’s digital division and coordinated the 2014-2015 national Net Neutrality campaign, a large-scale coalition campaign that overcame the entrenched Washington telecommunications industry. Michael was vice president for communications at the reproductive health rights group PAI from 2009-2012 and served as the organization’s interim co-director in 2010.

At Fenton Communications from 2004-2009, Michael was vice president and co-founder of its online division. Previous to Fenton, he was the Washington representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists, where he developed online and offline strategies for its corporate and legislative campaigns.

Michael was lead campaigner for Greenpeace Canada and worked on environmental issues with the David Suzuki Foundation, the Toronto Environmental Alliance, Access to Excess and the Environmental Youth Corps.

Originally from Canada and of Malaysian & British descent, Michael lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, son and extremely timid 90 lb dog Lulu.

Tracy Russo is a veteran communications and digital strategist who specializes in working at the intersection of progressive politics and technology. She is well known for her ability to integrate digital strategy with all aspects of a traditional organization.

She has worked with prominent nonprofit organizations and major foundations including the Center for American Progress, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, NARAL Pro-Choice America, UltraViolet, MoveOn.org, and many others.

During the Obama Administration, she served as a spokesperson and as the director of new media at the Department of Justice. Beyond digital strategy and media relations, her portfolio included leading the department's Open Government initiatives.

Russo has trained thousands of individuals at home and abroad in the best practices of online engagement in partnership with a variety of organizations. She has been a featured speaker at the Center for American Progress, the Personal Democracy Forum, the Netroots Nation Convention, and the Take Back America Conference. Tracy is the founder of Russo Strategies.

Sam has spent the last 10 years building strategic communications for progressive organizations across the U.S. and Europe. She specializes in targeted media and outreach strategies that make a big splash with the right audiences to call attention to the world’s most pressing issues—and demand change.

At Open Society Foundations, Sam managed the launch of its Open Society Barometer global polling at UNGA 2023, sparking discussion across High-Level Week about how to address declining faith in democracy. Previously, as the media lead at anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, she increased coverage of the annual Corruption Perceptions Index by over 40%. Sam has also led projects to build up the capacity and expertise of women’s rights leaders through the social learning network for governments, Apolitical.

Before that, in Washington, D.C., Sam developed campaigns and communication outreach for nonprofits fighting for the environment, human rights, and equity for all. Sam began her career as an organizer, working for President Obama’s re-election campaign and other races in Massachusetts.

Katie Wohlgenant has spent nearly two decades as a digital and communications strategist trying to help make things that matter with a focus on email, social media, public relations, and content development.

She's spent nearly half of her career supporting organizations and individuals looking to build a better democracy, from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senators Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Alex Padillo, Tina Smith, and Patrick Leahy to former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Senate confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh. She also assisted with digital and communications for the National Archives Foundation, Mariska Hargitay's The Joyful Heart Foundation, and a coalition supporting protection and expansion of federal public lands.

Prior to that, she led rapid response and email strategy for President Barack Obama's Organizing for Action, and as an appointee of the Obama administration she acted as press assistant for Attorney General Eric Holder and the civil, civil rights, and tax divisions of the Department of Justice.