The Team

Anna Barnes

Executive Assistant

Anna Barnes is a graduate of the University of Utah where she studied Political Science, International Studies, and Campaign Management. As a first-generation college student, she developed a passion for public policy, which led her to serve as the University’s Student Body President and Student Trustee. She received her start in political organizing as an intern for Ben McAdams’ Campaign for U.S. Congress in 2018 and worked as field organizer for McAdams again in 2020.

More recently Anna has worked in the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance space, but is happy to be back in the campaign world. During her free time you’ll most likely find her listening to a podcast or talking to her friends and family about something she heard on a podcast.

Joe Berg

Senior Online Editor

Joseph’s experience incorporates both production and post-production. He’s been a part of the AL Crew for the 2014 & 2016 political cycles and has assisted in finishing hundreds of spots for some of the biggest races in the country. He works as our head Online Editor; influencing the layout and visual outlook of our spots. Joseph graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Digital Cinema.

Mark Bergman

Principal

Mark joins AL Media after two decades in politics and campaigns.  Mark recently was senior advisor to Governor Ralph Northam after helping him secure a surprise landslide victory in 2017. Mark also was Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Dan Malloy, after serving as chief spokesman for his re-election campaign. When not working, Mark is watching his beloved New York Mets fail to make the playoffs, jogging and spending time with his wife and two children.

April Check

Senior Editor

Christina Chin

Senior Motion Graphics Designer

After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Christina embarked on a journey to create and accent narratives with the art of motion design. Starting out animating explainer videos and creating product advertisements, Christina found the best stories to tell were ones that move and inspire – and where better to accomplish this goal than at A|L Media. She lives in Chicago with her loving cat, Lawrence, and runs on too many cups of coffee.

Tayhlor Coleman

Senior Advisor

Tayhlor got an early start in campaigns, licking her first stamp on a campaign mailer in elementary school for her neighborhood city councilman. She joins AL Media after multiple cycles at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where she built dozens of winning campaigns from the ground up as part of the 2018 team that took back the House, and as the lead media strategist to the DCCC IE in 2020. Prior to that, she worked nearly every campaign job possible on competitive local, federal, and statewide races across Texas and the Midwest.

Evan Degnan

Senior Vice President

Evan is savvy digital strategist who brings a decade of experience building digital programs for nearly every level of campaign – from the state house to the U.S. Senate, including leading Senator Reverend Warnock’s digital team during the 2020 cycle. A North Carolina native, he now lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and cat.

Alec Eskind

Digital Strategist

Alec has gained experience in all aspects of digital media in his career, now in his second cycle as a digital lead at A|L. He began his career on Sen. Jon Tester’s successful re-election campaign in Montana and enjoyed helping turn online engagement into offline action while serving as a digital associate. He has since worked on digital campaigns for candidates and organizations up and down the ballot in competitive terrain, finding innovative ways to persuade and mobilize the spectrum of political constituencies.

Alec is originally from Nashville, TN, graduated from Tulane University, and currently resides in New York City.

Natalia Estrada

Senior Editor

Natalia (Nat)  is a born and raised Chicagoan with years of editing experience which includes work with Univision Noticias, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Steve Harvey Talk Show and numerous documentary television shows like Gangland, American Greed, and entertainment TV specials.

Nat first joined A|L Media for the election cycle in 2014, and kept coming back because she really likes working with such passionate producers, and motion graphic designers that together, every election cycle, help make a difference in the political pendulum.

Nat lives in Chicago with her husband Brian. They like to travel and spend time with family and friends.

Jordan Fox

Linear Manager

Jordan began his political career organizing from a small farm in southern Ohio for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. From there he has worked on various statewide, congressional and local campaigns helping wherever he’s been needed. Jordan has completed two cycles as a media buyer working on clients that include US senate, congressional and state house candidates as well as unions and environmental organizations. When not working, Jordan can be found playing with his dogs, Rosa and Zivah.

Kourtney Hall

Senior Competitive Analyst

Kourtney’s interest in politics began in college while covering the 2020 presidential election as a journalism student. She has a degree in Professional Media from the University of Central Oklahoma. She joined the A|L team during the 2020 cycle as a Competitive Analyst and returned as a Sr. Competitive Analyst in 2022. In her free time she loves to attend concerts, read books, and hunt down the best chicken wings in Oklahoma City.

Sandra Hosseini

Competitive Director

Sandra Hosseini manages the Competitive Department at A|L Media Strategy after serving as a Competitive Media Analyst during the 2018 midterm election cycle. In 2019, she served on the Executive Team for the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy. Sandra grew up in Oklahoma City after immigrating to America from Iran at the age of 6. She holds degrees in Political Science and Women’s Studies from the University of Oklahoma. When not working to get progressives elected, she enjoys traveling, exploring art exhibits, and rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers and OU Football.

Patrick Kennedy

Chief Financial Officer

Patrick brings a hands-on business approach and an impressive track record of financial and operational management to AL Media. In his position here as Chief Financial Officer, Patrick is instrumental in linking finance, technology and operations to streamline business processes and execute complex financial company initiatives. As a financial leader, Patrick’s focus is on strengthening the agency’s infrastructure and strategic capabilities to maximize performance, efficiency and cost-savings that will benefit our clientele. For nearly 20 years, Patrick has honed his financial expertise in the areas of Public Accounting, Financial Derivative Markets, Corporate Finance, Government and Non-Profits. Patrick currently holds an MBA with a focus in Advanced Accounting and is certified in Forensic Examination. In addition to these professional achievements, Patrick is also a classically trained French Chef and a die-hard Chicago Blackhawks fan.

Scott Kennedy

Director of Amplify

Scott Kennedy is a veteran of Illinois statewide campaigns, having worked on two Governor and two US Senate races, and is often cited as an expert on Illinois political matters.  As a Senior Account Executive, he helps manage some of our complex-needs clients. As a hobby Scott built a web-based system that has become a go-to resource for Illinois campaign data and he is leveraging that experience to build information management tools for our firm and our clients.

Noah Kim

Senior Vice President

Noah began his political career by driving in President Obama’s motorcade, and promptly thought he had ended that career when he smashed up the car he was driving. He has not driven in any more motorcades, but he has since managed, organized, and fundraised on competitive races at the state and federal levels. Before joining A|L, Noah worked on the DCCC’s Independent Expenditure to help net 40 Democratic House seats in 2018. He enjoys any opportunity for experimentation and innovation in how we communicate, coaching emerging leaders and staffers, and treating most interactions with strangers as mini-focus groups (to the dismay of plane and bus seatmates, barbers, and Lyft drivers everywhere).

Miles King

Managing Director

Miles took the reins of our media-buying operation in 2014, tracking spending and managing hundreds of television and radio programs in competitive races and advocacy campaigns across the country. Miles has been a lead media buying consultant for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee IE, American Bridge, Fair Fight, and Women Vote along with dozens of high profile hard side campaigns. His past experience includes working as senior staff for an Assistant Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Hannah Litchman

Account Executive

Hannah is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in history and legal studies. She received her start in politics by volunteering with Planned Parenthood Generation Action and interning at AL Media. Most recently, Hannah worked on Danielle Allen’s Massachusetts Gubernatorial campaign as her Campaign Scheduler and Deputy Directory of Operations. She is passionate about electing progressives and is excited to be back at AL. In her free time, you can find Hannah searching for the best pastry and hot chocolate combination in Boston.

Maggie McDermott

HR & Financial Operations Manager

A proud Chicagoland native, Maggie studied at Saint Louis University but was eager to return home to the Windy City to pursue a career in political media. Maggie first joined team A|L in 2018 and has been honing her skills in the finance and HR department ever since. She is proud to work alongside this team of talented, passionate individuals. In her free time, Maggie enjoys reading the news and then going to yoga class to lower her blood pressure.

Jasmine McDonald

Senior Producer

Jasmine is originally from California, but currently calls New Orleans home. She brings an all hands on deck mentality to any project and isn’t afraid to jump in wherever help is needed. Coming from a TV production background, a few of her credits include HGTV, Animal Planet, and OWN.

Sierra McNeil

Executive Assistant

Sierra McNeil is a graduate of the University of Utah, where she studied Business Administration and served as the Director of Government Relations for the Associated Students of the University of Utah. She delved into Utah state politics in 2018, managing Senator Derek Kitchen’s campaign for the Utah State Senate, and later interned during the 2019 Utah Legislative Session. She taught English abroad in Klaipeda, Lithuania in 2019 and most recently returned from teaching in Seoul, South Korea. She is passionate about legislation for reproductive health accessibility and voting rights. During her free time, you can find her trying new coffee shops and reading fantasy books.

Meghan O'Neill

Executive Assistant

Meghan found her love for politics in high school. A New Jersey native, she headed down south to College of Charleston where she majored in political science and international studies. After graduating, she worked full-time for Joycelyn Taylor’s grassroots campaign for New York City mayor, managing the campaign’s social media. During college, she honed some critical professional skills interning in investment banking, local government consulting, and as a production runner for the 2020 CBS News Presidential debate. She resides in New Jersey, which she claims “is not like the ‘Jersey Shore’ at all.”

Jacob Plotnick

Senior Account Executive

Politics has allowed Jacob to see the country by working in 10 different states and DC. He has filled a variety of roles from intern to campaign manager on campaigns at the local, congressional, and statewide levels. He also helped advise candidates and campaign staff while working at the DCCC during the 2018 election when Democrats took back the House. When he’s not working, Jacob can be found at the nearest pick up ultimate (frisbee) game.

Stephanie Rabiola

Senior Vice President

Stephanie got her chops working on narrative feature films, documentaries and travel shows before becoming a political media producer. Her other work includes not only producing but directing, writing, and show running. Some of her projects include but are not limited to; One Day Two Legends, a full length documentary and UPM for One Small Hitch, a feature film. She also served as show runner for Pedal America, a PBS travel series. She is very proud to serve as a Board Member for Women In Film Chicago. As a former bartender, she was the first woman to hold the title of “Chicago’s Best Bartender in Chicago”.

Jonathan Reed

Art Director

Born with a strong Midwestern work ethic, and raised on Southern charm, Jonathan moved to Chicago to attend film school at Columbia College. It was at Columbia that Jonathan discovered his gift for creative design, his love of short form narratives and his haunted cardboard box. Since becoming a full time freelancer, Jonathan has made friends at studios across the city but none as warm as those at AL. Sharing insightful stories through engaging visuals is a trademark of AL and is a tradition that he is proud to carry on. Jonathan lives in the city with a loving dog “Buffy” and a vengeful stunt-goldfish named “Fredrick II”. An internationally published poet, he has a love for strong coffee, notebooks and his mother.

Matt Shope

Online Editor

Matt got his start working on small iMovie projects in the 6th grade on his mother’s MacBook. From there, his love of movies and entertainment was fostered through viewings of older classics. It was in high school when he first thought that he may be able to pursue post-production for a living. As the primary editor for most of his school projects, he discovered he had a talent for telling stories and creating content. He attended Columbia College Chicago where he received his BA in Cinema Art & Science plus a minor in Creative Advertising. Working at A|L Media has given him a better understanding of his role, and has given him a plethora of experience that he wouldn’t trade for anything.

Megan Smith

Vice President

Megan began her political career in California, working on multiple Red-to-Blue Congressional races. Before joining A|L Megan worked on Katie Porter’s 2018 campaign, helping to elect her to Congress, and then became Congresswoman Porter’s deputy chief of staff. Following her work on the Hill, she left to manage Congresswoman Haley Stevens’ frontline reelection campaign. Megan holds a degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. When not on zoom calls Megan enjoys podcasts, craft beer and binge watching the Great British Baking Show.

Liz Utrup

Managing Director

Liz told herself she would never work in politics. Until she volunteered on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and quickly realized she does believe in hope and change. Needless to say, she’s largely worked in politics ever since. Tl;dr: Liz has been a campaign operative (2008 Obama Campaign); a press operative and Communications Director in federal and local government, respectively (U.S. Department of Education > Chicago Public Schools); a policy and messaging strategist (Kennedy for Illinois); and is now a media-firm maven (SP Media/Lightfoot for Chicago Mayor 2019 > AL Media). She loves to travel, speaks French, and spends an inordinate amount of time watching puppy videos on social media.

Justin Washington

Media Planner

At an early age, Justin realized that politics was his calling because he understood more unites us than divides us. Justin joined our Competitive team in 2018 where he tracks millions in competitor and allied spending, execute media plans, and develop good rapport with media and political officials to gain information for competitive races across the country. While at Western Illinois University where he received his Master’s in Public Administration/Public Policy, Justin worked and volunteered on numerous campaigns and nonprofit organizations. In his spare time, you will catch Justin in the nearest gym playing basketball or watching any sports team except the Cubs!