The James Protin Podcast

Communication Leads to Understanding with Jessica Towhey | The James Protin Podcast

James Protin Season 1 Episode 107

Jessica R. Towhey is an accomplished communications strategist with more than a decade of experience developing and implementing short- and long-term communications strategies. Jessica runs her own strategic media and communications consulting firm, 2e Communications, focusing on media consulting, crisis communications, reputation management, helping clients develop larger platforms for their advocacy, communications and media trainings, and freelance writing.
 
Jessica has developed and led Communications Workshops for the U.S. Department of State, including for the International Women of Courage Award and the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes.
 
In the political arena, Jessica served as the communications point-person for a number of federal campaigns, including several top-tier U.S. Senate and U.S. House races. She worked as a senior communications advisor on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC., for leading Members of Congress.
 
In 2011, Jessica moved to the private sector where she prepares clients for intensive media situations such as high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters with federal and state authorities as well as developing comprehensive communications strategy campaigns for reputational management, influencing debates, and managing crises as well as general Public Relations strategies. Clients have included those in the pharmaceutical, energy, defense, airline, and financial sectors as well as nonprofit organizations and trade associations.
She has created and run Media Centers for large-scale events with Members of Congress, coordinating multiple press conferences and individual media interviews for event participants. She was the primary incident spokesperson for the train derailment that occurred as Members of Congress, including U.S. House and U.S. Senate leadership and their senior staffs were traveling to a conference, briefing reporters and on- and off-camera in real-time as the situation unfolded. She successfully changed the narrative from “train carrying Members of Congress crashes, kills 1” to “Members of Congress render aid to train crash victims” as the day progressed and then seamlessly pivoted to the media activities planned for the conference.
 
Prior to entering politics, Jessica was a newspaper reporter at daily papers in Northern California and Annapolis, MD, where she covered a variety of issues ranging from education to police and courts to military affairs. Today, Jessica is a freelance reporter and her bylined articles have run in Real Clear Education, InsideSources, Detroit News, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Providence (RI) Journal, and the Northwest Times (IN). She freelances for InsideSources on energy issues and for McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, the largest trade publication for nursing home owners and operators.
 
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