Jessy Tolkan

Founder & CEO

Jessy Tolkan is the President and CEO of Drive Agency. With nearly 20 years of campaign and movement experience, her passion and drive for transformative change have taken her around the world and across issue sectors in pursuit of building the necessary power to win.

Prior to founding Drive Agency, Jessy served as Partner at PURPOSE and Co-Founder of Purpose Labs, a ground-breaking approach to campaigning and collaborating with philanthropy to drive change. During her tenure at Purpose, she helped expand their global footprint by opening campaign offices in India, Brasil, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, and Kenya. The Purpose Climate Lab, where Jessy remains a Collaborator and Senior Advisor, employs 40 staff globally, and has raised and invested over 40 million dollars in climate campaigning infrastructure over the past 6 years.

Over the course of her career, Jessy has built and led a series of powerful progressive institutions. Starting with her role as Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition, where, under her leadership, the Energy Action Coalition grew a generation-wide movement of millennials to be at the frontlines of a national and international debate on climate change – long before Climate Change dominated the headlines or political priorities of our leaders. Jessy then went on to serve as the Co-Executive Director of the Citizen Engagement Laboratory, and Senior Advisor to the Working Families Party.

Jessy has consulted with leading social change organizations in the United States and around the world including: Progressive Change Campaign Committee, GetEqual, HeadCount, 1sky, 350.org, Groundswell, Web of Change, and Wellstone Action, The Womens Forum for the Economy and Society, and Global Witness.

She’s been featured in Time Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The New York Times, Hard Ball with Chris Matthews, and Vanity Fair Magazine. Rolling Stone Magazine named her one of the “100 agents of change in America.”

Jessy Tolkan received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Political Science, with a focus in African-American Studies.

Kristi Lowe

Partner

Kristi is a political and communications strategist with a background in leading research-driven campaigns for elected office, government policy, advocacy, reputation management, and more. Prior to joining Drive Agency, Kristi was Partner and Chief Operating Officer at a Democratic media company, and Partner at a Democratic polling firm where she advised heads of state, government officials, national election campaigns, and progressive political parties around the world. Kristi brings a passion for people having shaped organizations, built teams, and nurtured talent in ways that create a rewarding place to work.

Rachel Zarem

CFO / COO

For the past twenty years Rachel has been helping global corporations improve performance through sound financial management. This has included developing systems to capture financial data and implementing strategies that advance organizational success. Rachel knows that numbers alone won’t deliver change; rather, they need to support a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and client focus. Serving in the CFO/COO role, Rachel will ensure that Drive continues to improve the world with a secure foundation and resources for growth.

Cassie Carothers

Head of Communications & Impact Content Studio

Cassie Carothers is the head of Drive’s Impact Content Studio, where she helps clients develop narrative strategies and related content. Prior to Drive, she led advocacy organization Global Citizen’s communications efforts for eight years, helping to expand the organization’s global footprint. She effectively communicated policy campaigns focused on health, gender equity, climate, education, and more. In her role, she oversaw all content development, social media strategy, video production, and crisis communications. Cassie started her career as a journalist, serving as a breaking news editor at Yahoo News, the NY Post, and Fox News. She also led digital content at lifestyle brands Martha Stewart and Yahoo Food.

Benjamin Gonzalez Cueto

Senior Digital Researcher

Benjamin is a Senior Digital Researcher based in California leveraging digital research to counter disinformation and promote progressive advocacy and campaigns.

Emma Decker

Strategy Manager

Emma has extensive experience in racial justice and anti-racism work, leveraging her skills in project and program management to deliver strategic partnerships and technical assistance in an effective and accessible manner. Before joining Drive, Emma worked at the Center for Policing Equity, where she led initiatives to redesign public safety systems with a focus on Black communities. Her background includes expertise in risk assessment, strategic innovation, and program measurement and evaluation, all aimed at enhancing the impact and success of various programs and projects. Currently based in New York City, she holds a degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sociology from the University of Denver.

George Duarte

Campaign Strategist

George is a Campaign Strategist based in Washington, D.C., with a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics. With a background in social listening, data analysis, and strategic recommendations, George brings valuable expertise to his role. He has successfully supported progressive organizations in assessing and responding to online mis/disinformation and harmful content.

Jake Engle

Director of Digital Research & Campaign Services

Jake directs social listening and communications work with Democratic campaigns and committees for Drive, and he works closely with a range of other progressive allies. He is a proven strategic partner who helps clients keep communications strategies rooted in data and geared toward outcomes.

Jake has an innate understanding of the intersection of social media, public opinion, and strategy – a defining challenge for modern communications. He has years of experience in traditional opinion research, crisis communications, and strategic storytelling, while specializing in synthesizing research about online propaganda and mis/disinformation into actionable insights.

Since 2018, Jake has worked with political, nonprofit, and corporate clients around the world and in the US – including in key battleground states like WI, PA, GA, FL, and AZ. His clients have included Democratic party committees, Governors JB Pritzker (IL) and Josh Shapiro (PA), and he has advised over 300 progressive groups.

A Vermont native, he graduated with a dual degree in Public Relations and Political Science from Syracuse University before moving to Washington, DC. He previously worked at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR).

Katie Esteves

Chief of Staff

Katie has spent the last decade in the social impact space, focusing on making systems accessible and streamlining efficiency. Her background in the education sector jump-started her passion for working in the social justice realm and trained her to put people at the forefront of her work. In each role Katie has organized mechanisms and led project teams to more inclusively meet rigorous targets.

Since 2019, Katie has project managed and led work that spans across the US and Europe, focusing on areas including youth inclusion, climate change and climate finance and support to foundations to improve efficiency and reach. Katie a received her BA from Colgate University in Political Science and Religion and her MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London.

Kyle Grassi

Executive Assistant to the President and CEO

Kyle Grassi has spent over a decade working in the social justice sector as an executive support specialist and project manager with an emphasis on taking strategic planning, calendar management, board governance, and organizational culture improvement ideas and transforming them into viable plans and results that impact operational efficiencies and strengthen and streamline organizational infrastructure.

Lara Jakiel

Deputy Director of Digital Research & Campaign Services

Lara Jakiel is Deputy Director of Digital Research & Campaign Services based in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to joining the Drive team, Lara helped create and expand Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s influencer program during his inaugural year in office – the only dedicated, full-time influencer program for a statewide elected official in the country.

Lara began her career at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR), where she worked closely with campaigns and led the team’s work with the DSCC and its target races. She also worked closely with clients like Indivisible and other advocacy groups focused on a range of issues – from voting rights to racial and gender equity. Her background includes both qualitative and quantitative opinion research, the principles of which she also incorporates into her social listening and communications work to ensure every client is receiving data-driven recommendations that help them win.

Lara is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native and received her Bachelor’s in Journalism from American University in Washington, DC.

Dodelene Lubin

Digital Research Analyst

Dodelene has a background in opposition research, grassroots advocacy, and political organizing, with a passion for transparency and fairness in politics. Her experience includes tracking both digital and in-person Republican campaign events in FL and NV with the DCCC. She excels in crafting a robust social media network for event tracking and consistently disseminating weekly rapid response reports to inform critical messaging strategies, focus groups, polling memos, and ad creation. Additionally, Dodelene’s commitment to community engagement is exemplified through her role in recruiting and managing volunteers during Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and as a DNC summer intern.

Currently based in Orlando, Florida, she holds a dual degree in International Affairs and Sociology, specializing in Economics, from Florida State University.

Matt Patrick

Strategy Manager

Matt joins the Drive team after more than a decade leading program implementation and design in the workforce development and education sectors.
He studied Anthropology at Hunter College and was a 2019 Fellow of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.

Prachi Rao

Director, Center of Narrative Innovation

Prachi is a social impact and narrative strategist with experience leveraging culture, media and storytelling for good. Prachi leads the Drive Agency’s work around narrative change, particularly how to equitably apply, adapt and disseminate narratives alongside an ecosystem of change agents. Prior to joining Drive, Prachi led U.S. strategy at Purpose where she built impact campaigns for the world’s largest brands (Unilever, Paramount & the Gates Foundation). In previous roles, she’s helped a legacy non-profit innovate (Amnesty International) and launched a grassroots climate movement (Women’s Global Call for Climate Justice). Prachi, originally from Melbourne, Australia, holds a Bachelor of Laws, with a focus on international human rights law, and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University.

Kelsey Suter

Director of the Center of Digital Influence

Kelsey leads the Drive Agency’s work around digital engagement and social listening and she has a special focus on countering online propaganda and disinformation. She has advised hundreds of progressive advocacy organizations, sitting prime ministers and foreign governments, democracy-building NGOs, and multinational corporations – helping them turn up the volume on their own messaging and develop digital strategies that build trust with audiences.

With a background in both research and strategic communications, Kelsey has worked at GQR Research and APCO Worldwide. In this work, Kelsey spent time embedded with political campaigns around the world, managed large-dollar digital ad campaigns, and secured top-tier media coverage for clients. She is also a trained focus group moderator and has conducted hundreds of focus groups worldwide.

She has an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a BA in Political Science and English from the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota.

Maddie Walsh

Director of Strategy

As Drive’s Director of Strategy, Maddie works with partners to understand the landscape they operate in, identify opportunities for impact, and design and implement creative solutions for complex problems. She works across issue areas and alongside partners to uncover insights and craft strategies and stories that help unlock the conditions for effective and lasting social change. Prior to joining Drive, Maddie managed people, culture, and operations at Purpose, worked in instructional coaching and design, taught middle school English, and co-founded a summer writing and youth development program for high school students. Maddie graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a BA in Economics and Peace & Conflict Studies.

Rachel Weber

Intern

Rachel is excited to join Drive Agency as an intern this fall. Currently a junior at Indiana University Bloomington, she is participating in the Semester in DC program. Rachel is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Law and Public Policy. Through her academic journey, she has found a passion for research and is eager to gain experience in the field. Outside of her studies, Rachel enjoys spending time with friends and family, exploring new restaurants, and participating in the Dance Marathon at IU.

Zhilin Xiao

Strategy Manager

A global citizen, strategist, and impact-focused changemaker. Zhilin’s passion for making a difference has led her to work at some of the world’s most respected international organizations, including the UNEP and the ICRC, in Geneva, New York and Northern Nigeria. She has led humanitarian protection teams and rolled out global initiatives that have made a meaningful impact in the communities she served. She was the founder of Change-Makers-Network back in 2013, where she led awareness-raising and social innovation experiments on various social and environmental issues. In her free time, she also advises senior corporate leadership on sustainability related issues. Zhilin holds a BBA in Business and Global Affairs from the University of Hong Kong and an MBA from the University of Oxford, where she specialized in impact strategy and systems change.

Milly Tolkan

Chief Happiness Officer

Milly gets her name from the city where she hails from, Milly-waukee, Wisconsin. She is currently focused on supporting staff meetings, charming stakeholders and influencers, and advancing her paws-on leadership skills.