Speakers
Brad Close
NFIB President & CEO
Brad Close is President of NFIB, the nation's leading small business advocacy organization. As NFIB's chief executive officer, Brad focuses on advancing NFIB's advocacy efforts in Washington, DC and through the organization's unmatched 50-state network and grassroots operation.
Adam Temple
NFIB Senior Vice President, Advocacy
Adam Temple is Senior Vice President, Advocacy for NFIB. In this role, Adam oversees the organization's media relations, marketing, digital and online communications. Adam came to NFIB from JDA Frontline, a full-service public affairs firm. He previously served on the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain and as the press secretary to U.S. Sen. Jim De Mint. He started his career at the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Governor Larry Hogan (MD)
Governor Lawrence J. Hogan, Jr. was sworn in as the 62nd governor of the State of Maryland on January 21, 2015. In 2018, he was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second four-year term, receiving the most votes of any Maryland gubernatorial candidate and becoming only the second Republican governor to be re-elected in the 242-year history of the state. Prior to his election in 2014, Governor Hogan – who had never before held elective office – spent more than 25 years building and running small businesses in the private sector. In 2011, he founded Change Maryland, the largest nonpartisan grassroots citizen organization in state history, which is dedicated to bringing fiscal responsibility and common sense to state government.
Governor Hogan is married to Yumi Hogan, a first generation Korean-American, artist and teacher. She is the first Asian first lady in Maryland history and the first Korean-American first lady in United States history. They have three daughters: Julie, Jaymi, and Kim; four grandchildren: Daniella, Cam, Ada and Nora; and two dogs, Anna and Chessie, whom they rescued from BARCS animal shelter in Baltimore City in 2018.
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN)
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn was sworn into the Senate in January 2019.
Marsha Blackburn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and is currently serving her first term representing the state of Tennessee. Before her election to the Senate, Marsha represented Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
Senator Blackburn’s public service is dedicated to promoting opportunities and making America a more prosperous place to live. Her leadership philosophy is based on her experiences in the private sector as a small businesswoman, author, mother, and grandmother.
She began her career in public service in 1995 when she was named executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission. In 1998, she was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. In the state legislature, she earned a reputation for fiscal responsibility and government accountability by identifying waste and offering realistic solutions to Tennessee’s budget challenges.
While serving in the Tennessee Senate, Senator Blackburn led a statewide grassroots campaign to defeat a proposed state income tax. The tax was defeated, and her leadership earned her a reputation as an anti-tax champion. In 2014, the people of Tennessee passed an amendment to the state constitution to expressly prohibit a state income tax – a fitting cap to a 14-year battle.
In 2002, Senator Blackburn was elected to represent the people of Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District based on her record in the state legislature.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Smucker (PA)
Lloyd Smucker wants to reignite the American Dream. As a Member of the Ways and Means Committee and a senior member of the Budget Committee, Smucker champions policies that make it possible for every person to pursue their American Dream, including increased economic opportunity for everyone, reining in Washington's out-of-control spending, and providing regulatory relief to small businesses so they can expand and create jobs.
Rep. Smucker is fighting to support America's free enterprise system, to expand apprenticeships and technical education opportunities for students, and help hardworking Americans save for retirement.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Rep. Smucker owned and operated the Smucker Company for 25 years until 2008, and grew the small business to eventually employ more than 150 people.
He served two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate where he chaired the Committee on Education. In that capacity, he pioneered reforms to increase accountability in education spending and worked to ensure Pennsylvania students had access to quality education. Rep. Smucker led the charge to hold elected officials accountable by proposing reforms to the ethics guidelines. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, he made it a priority to rein in spending and built a reputation as an independent-minded conservative who seeks creative solutions to complex problems.
He lives in West Lampeter Township with his wife, Cindy, and three children.
Beverly Hallberg
District Media Group
Beverly Hallberg is the founder and president of District Media Group. An expert media coach, lecturer, and public speaker, Beverly started District Media Group in 2008 to focus on coaching others to be their “best self” for both print and broadcast media. Since then, Beverly has grown District Media Group into an internationally recognized media training and communications consulting firm. She has trained members of Congress, CEOs, policy wonks, reporters, non-profit and movement leaders, and politicos. She also specializes in message development, talking point construction, and message creation.
Beverly is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, has been published in the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal, and The Hill, and is a frequent contributor on Fox News and Fox Business.
David Wasserman
Senior Election Analyst, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and NBC Contributor
David Wasserman is the Senior Election Analyst for the non-partisan newsletter, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and a contributor to NBC News. Founded in 1984, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter provides analyses of U.S. presidential, Senate, House, and gubernatorial races. The New York Times called The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter “a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative.”
Wasserman analyzes the current political environment in lively and entertaining presentations that he can tailor to his audiences’ specific interests or locales. His data-driven forecasting looks at both national and local trends (if requested, he can even do a district-by-district outlook), the relationship between consumer brand loyalty and voting, and what the future holds for American elections. He is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speaker's bureau.
Highly Praised Expertise. Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has written: “Wasserman’s knowledge of the nooks and crannies of political geography can make him seem like a local,” and the Los Angeles Times called Wasserman “whip smart” and a “scrupulously nonpartisan” analyst whose “numbers nerd-dom was foretold at a young age.” Chuck Todd, host of NBC's Meet the Press, recently called David "pretty much the only person you need to follow on Election Night."
In 2016, Wasserman drew wide praise for his accurate pre-election analysis, including his uncanny September piece entitled, “How Trump Could Win the White House While Losing the Popular Vote.” Leading Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson concluded, “Nobody of my generation knows American politics as well as Dave Wasserman.”
Political Intelligence. Wasserman has served as an analyst for the NBC News Election Night Decision Desk since 2008 and has also appeared on Fox News, CNN, and NPR. His commentary has been cited in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, POLITICO, and the Washington Post. In 2018, his groundbreaking interactive collaboration with FiveThirtyEight, the "Atlas of Redistricting," took top prize for News Data App of the Year.
An enthusiast for data and maps, Wasserman serves as a contributing writer to the Almanac of American Politics. A frequent speaker and guest lecturer, he has shared insights into the latest political trends with audiences at Harvard's Institute of Politics, the Dole Institute of Politics, and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics – where he was named a resident Pritzker Fellow in 2019.
Prior to joining The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter in 2007, Wasserman served for three years as House editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a widely respected political analysis newsletter and website founded by renowned University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato. A native of New Jersey, Wasserman is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where he was awarded the 2006 Emmerich-Wright Outstanding Thesis prize.
Kipp Maloney
NFIB Vice President of Grassroots, Political, Development, Compliance and Operations Services
Kipp Maloney is the Vice President of Grassroots, Political, Development, Compliance, and Operations Services for NFIB. He oversees all aspects of grassroots advocacy, fundraising for NFIB’s state and federal political action committees, supporting candidates whose voting records support the small-business agenda, educating the small-business community on the candidates NFIB supports, ensuring that the organization complies with all federal and state regulatory requirements. Prior to joining NFIB he managed statewide ballot initiatives at Winner & Mandabach Campaigns.
Jeff Brabant
NFIB Vice President, Federal Government Relations
Jeff is the Vice President for Federal Government Relations. Jeff runs NFIB's federal government relations department and is in charge of implementing federal advocacy strategies. Jeff is a former Policy Director at the House Small Business Committee and joined NFIB in 2018 with over 10 years of experience working for Members of Congress on Capitol Hill.
Josh McLeod
NFIB Director, Federal Government Relations
Josh joined the NFIB federal lobbying team in December 2022.
Josh joins NFIB with over 12 years of experience in government and government affairs. He most recently served as Senior Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Ron Johnson.
Josh began his career with Senator Johnson in 2011. He later served as Senior Professional Staff Member for Chairman Johnson on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Josh was born in Wisconsin but grew up in Pennsylvania. He attained a bachelor's degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Widener University in Chester, PA. Following college, Josh played professional baseball before beginning his career in Washington, DC.
Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Andrea and their three children.
Elizabeth Parks
NFIB Senior Regional Grassroots Manager
Elizabeth Parks is a Senior Regional Grassroots Manager for NFIB. In this role she leads a team of grassroots managers in developing and maintaining a strong network of engaged NFIB members across the states. She previously served as the deputy chief of staff to U.S. Representative Trent Kelly (MS-01) and as the communications director to U.S. Representative Alan Nunnelee (MS-01). She started her career as a legislative staffer covering various policy portfolios and grew up in an entrepreneur household. Her mother owned and operated a convenience store and deli for 19 years.
Sharon Sussin
NFIB Senior National Political Director
As the Senior National Political Director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Sharon is responsible for directing NFIB’s political activities on behalf of pro-small business candidates in Congress. She manages NFIB’s federal candidate endorsement process which in the last several election cycles have included nearly 300 congressional endorsements each year. Sharon also runs the member education and Get out the Vote (GOTV) programs which focuses on motivating small business owners to engage in the political process using Voter Guides, targeted communications, “on the ground” events and paid media. Sharon has been with NFIB since November 1992 and a member of the Political Department since 1995.
Stefanie Williams
NFIB National Director of Development
Stefanie Williams is National Director of Development for NFIB. She leads the development efforts for NFIB's PACs at the federal and state level. She and her team also manage the Leadership Trust program - NFIB's major donor program, recognizing business leaders who are the top supporters of NFIB's political efforts in electing pro-small business candidates at the state and federal level and educating voters. Stefanie has a decade of experience fundraising for political candidates and organizations, including U.S. Senate & U.S. Congressional races across the country.