Our Team

Mark Duffy, Founder, and CEO

Mark crafts award-winning communications and advocacy programs to influence policy decisions, shape public opinion, and get results. With a specialization in strategic communications, geopolitical solutions and domestic policy, clients turn to Mark for his ability to deliver results through winning public affairs campaigns.

For over two decades, Mark has helped Fortune 500 companies achieve their corporate goals and counseled sovereign nations to ensure they advance their policy objectives. From a coup d’état to messaging sensitive policy issues coming out of the White House that impacts a company’s bottom line, Mark has helped some of the world’s most established brands achieve major wins.

Previously Mark worked for a globally respected Washington, D.C.-based communications and government affairs firm, where he was executive vice president and chair of the international practice. His most notable accomplishments include crafting and executing a communications program for a Deputy Prime Minister to become president of the United Nations General Assembly and working with the Trump Administration to help save tens of thousands of American manufacturing jobs. Mark’s work resulted in major trade policy changes and he organized a national media event with the 39th U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Earlier in his career, Mark worked on trade and investment projects for Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, now the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy. He also worked for the late U.S. Senator John McCain helping to organize the Irish American Presidential Forum.

Mark is a Graduate of Leadership South Carolina, serves on the Planning Commission for Richland County and he was appointed to serve as the Co-Chair of the South Carolina Ireland Trade Commission by Governor Henry McMaster.

Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in international business from the University College Dublin (Ireland) and a master’s degree in political management from The George Washington University. 

  • Bill Black, Chairman

    Bill Black is a Washington veteran with experience both within and outside government. He served as chief of staff to three members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He left the Hill to become the Political Director at the American Medical Association.

    In 1997, he joined FleishmanHillard, the global public relations firm where he rose to be the Chair of the Global Public Affairs Practice. He also launched and chaired the firm’s Global China Practice.

    After 17 years leading FlesihmanHillard, he left and founded the Greater Washington China Investment Center, Inc. He has experience in lobbying, grassroots advocacy, global public affairs and communications strategy. He taught a course on issues management at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management and served on the Executive Committee of the Public Affairs Council.

    He also leads The Conference Board’s Government Relations Executive Council as its Program Director. He was also elected President of the House Chiefs of Staff Alumni Association and is the organization’s immediate past president.

  • David Sowells, Senior Strategist

    David serves as a senior strategist working with Compass Global and he has significant international strategic communications experience.  He has advised numerous governments, corporations and non-profits including HSBC on political engagement, the Government of Cambodia on media relations, Kuwait Finance House on messaging, and Ericsson on crisis communications.

    David served as Public Affairs Director of CNN International and AOL Time Warner Europe; and was Vice President of the UK Satellite and Cable Broadcasters Group. He began his career as an economic advisor in the British House of Commons.

    David studied at the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School, and has run successful businesses in Washington DC, Brussels, and London.

  • Sarah Reidy-Jones, Fundraising Strategist

    Sarah Reidy-Jones brings over twenty-five years of institutional knowledge within conservative politics, including grassroots organization, spokesperson expertise, event assistance and membership growth. Her public service ranges from City Hall to the Governor’s Office to the White House. She previously consulted on local, statewide and federal races, specializing in media and crisis communications, including as a senior staffer for a presidential campaign and a gubernatorial campaign manager in Kentucky and North Carolina.

    Sara is a three-time delegate to the Republican National Convention and a NCGOP Hall of Fame nominee. Outside of politics, Sarah also works as a senior consultant at Long Leaf Pine Consulting and she spent several years overseeing the marketing and communications for several national nonprofits and in the manufacturing industry. 

    She holds a degree in political science from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She and her husband Chris are proud foster parents and active advocates for foster care reform, including the recent adoption of their son, Ethan.

Board of Advisors

  • Senator Ronnie Cromer, Co-Chair

    Senator Ronnie Cromer serves South Carolina as State Senator for Senate District 18.  He was first elected to the seat in a special election on April 15, 2003, and has risen through the ranks of the Senate Republican Caucus.  He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.  In addition, he serves on four other Senate committees: Finance (subcommittee chairman), Joint Bond Review, Fish Game and Forestry (fr chairman), and Rules (fr chairman.)

    A life-long resident of Newberry County, Senator Cromer has given more than thirty years of his life to public service in the professional and political service arenas.  Senator Cromer is fully engaged in the Newberry Community as a business owner (Lorex Drugs), a member of many civic organizations, past president of the Prosperity Civitan Club and the Newberry Pilots' Association, and is also a member of several conservation organizations.

    A thirty year member of the South Carolina Army Reserve National Guard, Ronnie served in the first Persian Gulf War and in Operation Desert Shield/Storm receiving several distinguished service honors and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Cromer is proud to be counted among the men and women who volunteer to defend our country and protect the freedoms and liberties that have been gained through the sacrifice of so many.

    Senator Cromer lives in Prosperity with his wife of 50 plus years, Linda (Epting) Cromer.  The two were married on August 30, 1969 and have two daughters:  Candace and Heather.  Ronnie is also blessed to be the grandfather of four wonderful grandchildren; Zachary, Zoe, Ella Kate and Everly.

  • Kenneth R. Weinstein, Co-Chair

    Kenneth R. Weinstein is a respected global leader in the field of international affairs, geopolitics and policymaking.

    From 2011 through 2020, Weinstein served as president and CEO of Hudson. In December 2019, he became the inaugural holder of the Walter P. Stern Chair. Dr. Weinstein has served under the last four US administrations as a member of presidential-appointed commissions.

    In March 2020, he was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to serve as US ambassador to Japan. His nomination was reported unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September 2020. Dr. Weinstein previously served on the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, which provides counsel on trade agreements to the United States Trade Representative.

    From 2017 until 2020, Dr. Weinstein chaired the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the oversight body for US Agency for Global Media, and was chair of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting, and the Open Technology Fund.

    As a leader on the international stage, Dr. Weinstein was decorated as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and was awarded the Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Weinstein earned his BA in general studies in the Humanities from the University of Chicago, DEA in Soviet and Eastern European studies from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and PhD in government from Harvard University.

  • Stephen Moore

    Stephen Moore is an economist, author and frequent lecturer to audiences around the world on the U.S. economic and political outlook, and is the author of six award-winning books.

    Moore is a graduate of the University of Illinois and holds a master’s degree in Economics from George Mason University.

    From 1999-2004, Moore served as Founder and President of the Club for Growth, an organization dedicated to helping elect free market candidates to Congress. In his tenure as president, the Club for Growth became one of the most influential and respected political organizations in the nation. From 2005-2014, Moore served as the senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial page and as a member of the WSJ editorial board. He emains a regular contributor to the publication. Moore served as a senior economic advisor to President Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    In 2007, Moore received the Ronald Reagan “Great Communicator” award from the Republican party for his advancement of economic understanding. In 2010, he was awarded the University of Illinois Alumni of the Year. His book “Return to Prosperity: How America Can Regain its Economic Superpower Status” was a finalist for the F.A. Hayek Award for Advancing Economic Understanding. Worth Magazine named Stephen Moore one of the 75 Most Influential People in the World Dealing with Economics and Finance.

  • The Honorable Mark Kennedy

    The Honorable Mark Kennedy

    Congressman Mark Kennedy is Director of the Wahba Institute of Strategic Competition at the Wilson Center, an appointed Civic Leader supporting the Secretary of the Air Force and a Senior Fellow at CNA - Center for Naval Analyses. A first-generation college graduate, he has led at the highest levels of academia, government and business. Mark served as President of the University of Colorado and of the University of North Dakota. He authored Shapeholders: Business Success in the Age of Activism, published by Columbia University. 

    Kennedy served as a U.S. Congressman (MN) and as a presidentially appointed member of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation. Mark was treasurer of a company known today as Macy’s and helped Pillsbury buy and expand Häagen-Dazs. Kennedy founded the Economic Club of Minnesota. Mark is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Boston Global Forum’s Board of Thinkers. He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan.

  • Pastor Todd Lamphere

    Pastor Todd Lamphere

    Pastor Todd Lamphere is a ministry veteran of 37 years, serving churches in Virginia, Ohio and Florida as a Youth Pastor, Sr. Pastor, church planter and consultant. Todd served under Pastor Paula White-Cain, Senior Advisor to the President on Faith under the Trump Administration in the White House Office of Faith and Opportunity Initiative.

    A board member at the National Faith Advisory Board, Todd continues his role serving Pastor Paula at City of Destiny in Apopka, Florida while also serving as the Senior VP for CityServe International. His concern for the Southern Border prompted him and Pastor Paula to create Operation Border Blessing, a ministry that honors and serves US Border Patrol agents, their families and all connected with the border.

  • Senator Mark Daly

    Senator Mark Daly was elected to the office of 24th Chair of the Senate of Ireland and serves a Leas Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann. 

    Mark Daly was elected as a Senator in 2007. He was the first Kerryman, the youngest Senator from his party, and the second youngest individual to hold the office of Cathoirleach. In 2017 Mark published the first-ever report by a Dáil or Seanad Committee on the issue of Uniting Ireland and its people in peace and prosperity. This Report was followed by a further five reports on the topic of a United Ireland which can be accessed at the Shared Ireland section of this site. In 2013 Mark asked Micheál Martin to appoint him to the position of spokesperson for the Irish Overseas and the Diaspora. It was the first time a member of the Dáil or Seanad was appointed to such a position.

    Mark helped ensure the progress of the first-ever report by a Dáil and Seanad Committee on the issue of Uniting Ireland and its People in Peace & Prosperity for the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The first Report was followed by a further five reports on the topic of United Ireland which can be accessed on this website.

    In 2021, Mark launched the American Irish State Legislators Caucus, a bi-partisan network of current and former American Irish legislators and legislators who are friends of Ireland from across the United States of America at the local and state levels of government. The Caucus is inclusive, it is open to everyone who has Irish Heritage and those who are supporters of Ireland.