HPS Insights

HPS Welcomes Kriston McIntosh As Managing Director

January 11, 2021
5 min read

Today, Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) is proud to announce veteran public affairs strategist Kriston McIntosh is joining the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a managing director.

McIntosh brings to HPS two decades of experience providing strategic counsel to Fortune 100 companies, nonprofit leaders, and members of Congress, including the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate and the late Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis (D-GA). She will be joining HPS after spending six years as managing director of the Hamilton Project, an economic policy center at the Brookings Institution focused on developing solutions to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans.

“I’m incredibly excited that Kriston is joining our team, especially at such a dynamic time for our business and clients,” said Tony Fratto, founding partner of HPS. “The public affairs landscape is becoming increasingly complex and with issues of economic security top of mind for policymakers, Kriston’s deep understanding of the public policy and communications challenges ahead will be an invaluable asset to our firm. We’re all looking forward to learning from her.”

“Kriston is an innovative strategist with experience on issues that are important to our firm and top of mind for our clients,” said HPS partner Stacy Kerr. “Kriston has been in the field developing policy solutions with some of the foremost economic leaders. She is a leader with a proven record of building and managing high-performing teams, something that is critical to our culture at HPS. We are grateful and lucky that Kriston has chosen to continue her career with the HPS team. I look forward to bringing her perspective to our work.”

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented practitioners and industry leaders at HPS to advance the firm’s research-driven approach to solving complex client challenges. I look forward to applying my experience in the public affairs and public policy arenas to help HPS’ clients navigate an increasingly evolving landscape to meet their strategic communications and business objectives,” said McIntosh.

As the managing director at the Hamilton Project at Brookings, McIntosh elevated its profile with the media, policymakers, academia, and business leaders on key issues of economic inequality, education, and the racial wealth gap. She also authored op-ed columns on economic policy issues that have appeared in CNN, BBC, The Hill, The Detroit Free Press, and Real Clear Markets.

Prior to the Hamilton Project, McIntosh served as senior vice president at Edelman, a global public relations and marketing consultancy firm. For the Edelman Alliances practice, she managed a range of successful national public affairs campaigns on a range of issues including clean energy, telecommunications, and healthcare.

Previously, McIntosh worked as the staff director for the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee and as a policy advisor to Congressman John Lewis, advising him on labor policy and appropriations requests. Earlier in her career, she served as the legislative affairs manager at the United Nations Foundation and as a press secretary to Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

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