About Direct Impact

Leadership

Dave DenHerder
Chief Executive Officer
As the chief executive officer, DenHerder oversees all field, media and COM Center operations for Direct Impact. Prior to joining Direct Impact, DenHerder spent 18 months as a regional political director for Bush-Cheney '04. He was responsible for developing, planning and managing all political and grassroots operations in seven states, including Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan. He also acted as the campaign's liaison with state political and elected leaders. DenHerder also served as the White House liaison and special assistant to the Secretary of Labor. His extensive political and campaign experience includes BC '00, Illinois Victory 2000, Lightfoot for Governor in 1998 and Lightfoot for Senate in 1996.

Vlad Cartwright
Executive Vice President
Leveraging his extensive experience in the congressional, corporate and association arenas, Vlad Cartwright develops legislative and political strategies, provides coalition-building guidance and identifies effective public affairs and advocacy solutions on behalf of our clients. With over a decade of experience in legislative, public policy and advocacy fields, Cartwright has served as vice president of the Edison Group and was a member of the government relations group at the firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP. He has managed grassroots campaigns for the Coalition to Save Medicare and the Antitrust Coalition. In addition, he has managed corporate and association grassroots programs as well as lobbying efforts for the Healthcare Leadership Council and United Health Group, and he has served on the staff of former U.S. Representative Butler C. Derrick Jr., of South Carolina.

Nicole Cornish
Executive Vice President, Operations
Nicole Cornish began her career at Direct Impact in 2003, providing client leader services for some of Direct Impact’s highest profile clientele. She has supervised national grassroots programs for a variety of industries, ranging from healthcare to the automotive industry. In her current role, she oversees internal operations for the company, including general supervision of all existing program implementation. Previously, Cornish served as brand practice manager for Burson-Marsteller in San Diego, where she led the Sony Electronics Corporation West Coast team. She also worked at Edelman-New York as a technology practice account supervisor for Fuji Photo Film, U.S.A.

Steven Soper
Vice President, Client Service
As Vice President of Client Service, Steven Soper provides senior leadership and counsel on grassroots and grasstops campaigns for Direct Impact’s clients. Prior to joining Direct Impact, he held the position of associate director in The White House Office of Political Affairs. In this role, he coordinated Presidential travel and served as a liaison to campaigns and state leadership for the Northeast Region. Before coming to The White House, Soper was the director of political education at the Republican National Committee and served on the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign as a regional political coordinator for the Central States. Soper worked on the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee, as well as the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

Judith Ostronic
Vice President, Business Development
Judy Ostronic comes to Direct Impact with over 10 years of government affairs experience. Most recently, Ostronic represented Northeast Utilities System lobbying on issues related to energy and natural gas and oversaw all fundraising activities for the Northeast Utilities Employees’ Political Action Committee. Prior experience includes six years with the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), where she managed the association’s grassroots lobbying efforts before serving as Director of Legislative Affairs. Ostronic began her career in government affairs conducting major donor fundraising efforts for BUILD-PAC, the National Association of Home Builders’ Political Action Committee.

Molly Douglas
Director, Content Development
Molly Douglas brings years of experience writing and managing content for a wide variety of issues and campaigns. As director of content development, she oversees the creation of collateral, issue and editorial pieces, as well as new business proposals and campaign measurement reports. In this role, Douglas is charged with maintaining message quality and consistency for Direct Impact's clients. Previously, Douglas served as senior consultant for a D.C.-based marketing and communications firm. She also served as senior manager for a Philadelphia-based public relations firm.

Amy Cloessner
Director, Grassroots Communications, Outreach and Mobilization (COM) Center
As director of the COM Center, Amy Cloessner oversees every aspect of our high-volume, high-quality outreach, including data targeting and management, specialist training, quality control, mail fulfillment, program tracking and analysis. Cloessner is intricately involved in developing cost-effective strategies for stand-alone COM Center programs and to supplement field programs. Previously, Cloessner received her Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America and has worked to provide legal assistance to low-income families in the Washington, D.C., area.