Richard Fawal is a 30-year veteran of political, public policy, business, and non-profit communications who has worked with clients such as the US Chamber of Commerce, Mayo Clinic, Kellogg’s, and the American Medical Association to expand consumer communication in support of government affairs and marketing missions. Richard began his career working on election campaigns, including as Texas Director for Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign and dozens of races in Texas and California before starting his own consulting firm in 1999. In this role, Richard worked on numerous high-profile legislative actions, including passage of the DR-CAFTA trade agreement, defending Delta Air Lines from a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways, and passage of the Affordable Care Act. During this time, his expertise focused on online communications, from digital constituent advocacy to internet-focused influence campaigns. In 2010, Richard founded WatchParty, Inc., a technology company that developed online social media platforms for television audiences, before returning to public affairs as the Executive Director of the Partnership for a Secure Financial Future, a project of the Financial Services Roundtable. From 2013 to 2017, Richard served as Deputy Vice President for Communications at the Brookings Institution, where he led the development of an internal creative department and oversaw all aspects of the think tank’s online presence, including the complete re-build and re-launch of brookings.edu. He also founded the Brookings Podcast Network and developed the organization’s most successful audio content. In 2017, Richard left Brookings and founded Junto Media (now Voxtopica) to provide podcast production, distribution, and marketing services to subject matter experts and the organizations that support them. Voxtopica’s clients include the Federation of American Hospitals, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the National Venture Capital Association.