With more than a decade of public and private sector experience, Kristen Thomaselli is the founder of breaKThrough 22, a boutique strategic communications and public affairs consultancy.
A seasoned and effective communicator, Thomaselli provides clients with unique public affairs strategies and thoughtful approaches to third-party engagement and coalition development. She works with organizations, large and small, to win policy battles and tackle pressing crises and challenges head-on.
Her keen ability to craft and deliver compelling messages on behalf of her clients – from Fortune 500 companies and think tanks to trade associations and unions – has helped move the needle in a number of campaigns focused on issues, including but not limited to: healthcare, energy, and labor.
Thomaselli has a proven track record of ensuring her clients remain center stage in timely conversations and debates related to their top-priority issues. She gets favorable media exposure in front of clients’ target audiences by generating media placements in premier outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.
A native West Virginian, Thomaselli began her career serving on the staff of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), then-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In this role, she was exposed to the most pressing issues facing our nation, and learned how to clearly convey a message – at times, in the face of relentless attacks from the opposition.
Upon leaving Capitol Hill, Thomaselli managed clients’ media outreach and strategic communications efforts, as the director of earned media at Keybridge Communications. She then joined Forbes Tate Partners, where, as one of the first members of the firm’s public affairs team, she played an instrumental role in spearheading public affairs campaigns for the firm’s growing client roster, prior to joining Qorvis Communications as a vice president of public affairs in July 2018.
Thomaselli graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University, where she was elected to the Student Government Association’s Board of Governors for two terms. She has served on the Board of Directors for the National Capital Area Chapter of the West Virginia University Alumni Association and the Capital Caring Gala Committee. She is also a member of Washington Women in Public Relations.
