Drumfire’s team members come to us with a wide variety of backgrounds – Capitol Hill, PR agencies, the think tank community, the news media – to ensure we can help a client with any challenge, large or small, inside the Beltway and beyond.
Get to Know Us
Aaron Saunders
Founder and CEO
P: (202) 864-4151
E: asaunders at drumfirepa dot com
Aaron Saunders has the rare distinction of serving as senior staff for both a Republican and Democrat. This experience has allowed Aaron to maintain meaningful relationships with contacts from across the political spectrum, both on and off Capitol Hill. During his five years with Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Aaron was the national on-the-record spokesperson, including during Senator Stevens’ time as Chairman of the Senate Commerce and Appropriations Committees. Aaron went on to serve as the communications director for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) for two years, including serving as spokesperson for the Senator during the BP oil spill. In 2010, Aaron joined a nationally recognized crisis communication and public affairs firm. Over his five years there, he rose to Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer where he managed the firm’s day-to-day operations. Aaron led accounts for Fortune 500 companies and trade associations in the consumer products, defense, education, energy, health care, manufacturing, and technology sectors. He has extensive experience communicating complex issues and gaining regulatory and legislative support for products and technologies that upset the status quo and draw intense scrutiny. Today, he performs a variety of public affairs functions – including strategic planning and counsel, crisis training and management, media engagement, media training, and coalition building – for his firm’s diverse group of clients.
Kathryn Rodriguez
Vice President
P: (202) 864-4152
E: krodriguez at drumfirepa dot com
Kathryn Rodriguez has extensive experience in both non-profit and corporate communications. For three years, Kathryn served as the public relations director for the Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) at George Mason University, a non-profit organization dedicated to correcting scientific misinformation in the media. In this role, Kathryn frequently worked with scientific experts, academics, and journalists to pitch and place articles and to correct misinformation in published works. As a result of this regular outreach, she developed – and still maintains – a network of media and advocacy contacts. During her time at STATS, Kathryn worked on a wide range of diverse regulatory and public policy issues. In 2014, Kathryn joined a nationally recognized crisis communication and public affairs firm. During her time there, Kathryn completed large-scale research and landscape analysis projects for a variety of clients and worked to advance clients’ position as thought leaders inside the Beltway and beyond. She joined Drumfire Public Affairs in 2016, and today services accounts for Fortune 500 companies and trade associations, specializing in digital and social media strategy and management, media outreach, communications materials development, strategic planning, and ally engagement and mobilization.
Jennifer Suzara
Vice President
P: (202) 864-4153
E: jsuzara at drumfirepa dot com
Jennifer Suzara helps a diverse set of clients develop smart and effective media strategies. Drawing from an extensive background in news producing and management, Jennifer specializes in positive story pitches and placements, successful media defense, and optimizing effective issue advocacy and messaging. She began her news career in New York City as an Assignment Editor at a Fox affiliate television station before heading to Fox News Channel where she became the Deputy Foreign Editor. Jennifer then headed to the nation’s capital to work at Fox News Channel’s Washington, D.C. bureau. During her seven years there, Jennifer was a newsroom producer covering political, national, and international news. While serving as a White House producer, she traveled extensively with President Barack Obama, eventually working her way to newsroom management, where she supervised a team of 15 DC-based producers.
Maya White
Director
P: 202-864-4158
E: mwhite at drumfirepa dot com
Maya White’s career is replete with deep and impactful experience in grassroots advocacy, nonprofit administration, and civil service across the healthcare and government sectors. Previously, Maya was the Deputy Director of Grassroots Advocacy for March of Dimes where she led the national grassroots outreach strategy, along with recruiting and training over 15,000 advocates across the United States. Prior to March of Dimes, Maya designed the grassroots strategy for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, a bipartisan trade association that advocates on behalf of the interests of the anesthesiology profession. Before working in the healthcare space, Maya’s passion for advocacy started in college. Her vast experience ranged from the NAACP to the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Obama Administration. Additionally, she worked for Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) and was an Outreach and Advocacy Fellow for the College Promise Campaign with Dr. Jill Biden in which she wrote a feature for Forbes on the experiences of minority college students that gained over 100,000 views. For Drumfire, Maya provides clients with range of services including content creation, grassroots advocacy, and alliance development.
Hailey Collins
Associate
P: 202-848-1735
E: hcollins at drumfirepa dot com
Hailey has gained significant advocacy and public policy experience through local political campaign work and post-graduate internships. Since graduating from Howard University in 2021, Hailey has served in a variety of roles, from communications intern to government relations analyst. In those positions, she advocated for clients’ federal priorities on Capitol Hill and with the Executive Branch and conducted daily research on workforce and education-related policy issues. For Drumfire, Hailey provides clients with a range of services, including media and social media monitoring, digital strategy and engagement, research, and strategic alliance development.
Rob Sawicki
Vice President
E: rsawicki at drumfirepa dot com
Rob Sawicki is a seasoned strategic communications expert, with extensive experience servicing clients from both the public and private sectors. Rob spent 15 years on Capitol Hill, including more than a decade as a senior communications strategist. During that time, he served as Press Secretary for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rob also served as Senior Communications Advisor for Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, including during her tenure as Chair of the Senate Energy Committee and Senate Small Business Committee. Rob was a key member of the team responsible for developing strategy and messaging for Sen. Landrieu both during the 2009 debate over the Affordable Care Act, as well as the 2010 BP oil spill. Since leaving Capitol Hill, Rob has been responsible for leading messaging and communications strategy for numerous clients in the energy, health care, transportation, IT, and BioTech spaces. For Drumfire, Rob provides clients with strategic counsel, message development, media relations, and speechwriting support.
Stephen Schatz
Senior Vice President
E: sschatz at drumfirepa dot com
Stephen Schatz is an experienced communicator, policy operator, and political strategist who has had the distinction of serving in diverse roles and responsibilities from Capitol Hill and the campaign trail to the White House and State House.
Following a decade in Washington, D.C. working for national retail trade associations in policy communications and media relations, Schatz spent the last 8 years in Annapolis, Maryland, serving as a senior advisor to Governor Larry Hogan as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. As Deputy, Schatz oversaw climate, energy and environmental policy, programs, and regulations, as well as the work of a dozen state agencies and departments.
For Drumfire, Schatz leverages his connections and relationships – in and out of Washington, D.C. – to position clients for success as they navigate the turbulent political and policy challenges and opportunities on the national, state and local levels.