Vice President- Impact Politics

Rene serves as Impact Politics’ Vice President, and oversees all digital production for our client’s campaigns.

He joined Impact in 2016 with a wealth of digital experience as well as traditional corporate advertising and branding, which includes broadcast and print work for Macy’s, Verizon, and the World Wrestling Federation. For the past 15 years, he’s overseen and helped guide the interactive and digital efforts of numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as nonprofits and governmental agencies.

Since joining us Rene has helped support the campaigns of dozens of candidates and advocacy groups through the creation of digital assets and email campaign management. He is a member of the American Association of Political Consultants and is an active member of the education community in South Florida. He currently teaches “Foundations of Political Advertising” at the University of Florida’s School of Journalism Masters Program and gives marketing workshops to small businesses in Miami.

Senior Vice President- PUSH Digital

Alex Garcia is the Senior Vice President of Push Digital. Formerly, he was Regional Political Director for the RNC and Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez. Alex has worked on countless Florida races and is a former FIU Panther.

Partner- Holtzman Vogel

Jessica Furst Johnson is a partner at Holtzman Vogel and has spent the past thirteen years serving as General Counsel for three different national political party committees, cementing her as one of the most experienced campaign finance and election law attorneys in the industry. Jessica focuses her practice on political committees, campaign finance and election law, both on the federal level and across the 50 states, lobbying and ethics compliance, and tax-exempt organizations.

Jessica served as General Counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2009-2016, advising the national political party committee, Republican Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and candidates for U.S. House on matters related to Federal campaign finance law, House Ethics Rules, contract law, corporate law, and intellectual property regulations. During the 2014 and 2016 cycles, Jessica continued as General Counsel, while also serving the committee in a managerial and strategic role as Deputy Executive Director. In 2016, Jessica was selected as NRCC Independent Expenditure Director, managing the NRCC’s paid political efforts in 30+ congressional races, and leading a staff and vendor team of more than 80 people, and a budget exceeding $76 million.

In the 2018 election cycle, Jessica served as General Counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, where she oversaw the legal strategy for the 2018 Florida Senatorial Recount, managing hundreds of volunteer attorneys and more than 10 different law firms to ensure victory in a hand recount across Florida’s 67 counties in the span of nine days. In addition to her firm work, Jessica currently serves as General Counsel to the Republican Governors Association, the primary organization dedicated to supporting and electing Republican Governors, where she has honed an expertise on state campaign finance and election law.

Prior to her time at the NRCC, Jessica was an associate in a Washington, D.C. law firm, advising candidates, members of Congress and other elected officials, tax-exempt entities and political action committees on issues relating to Federal Election Commission compliance, House and Senate Ethics Rules, political strategy, and state lobbying law.

Jessica lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband and their two children.

CEO- Calvary Strategies

Melissa Stone is the CEO of Cavalry Strategies, a company she founded in 2016 after serving as Chief of Staff for Florida Governor Rick Scott. She also served as a senior advisor for the New Republican Super PAC supporting Governor Rick Scott in his 2018 race for U.S. Senate, as well as the General Consultant for CFO Patronis during his 2018 winning election and his most recent landslide reelection victory in 2022.

Melissa also served as the Campaign Manager for Governor Scott’s reelection campaign in 2014, which was won by less than one percentage point. She was Communications Director in the Governor’s Office before that. Previously, Melissa was the Director of Regional Media for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, and a former Communications Director for Governor Bobby Jindal in Louisiana during his first term in office (2008-2011) after serving as the communications director for his 2007 campaign for Governor of Louisiana. Before that, Melissa served as a Regional Media Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign, Press Secretary for Congressman Jim Nussle (IA) in 2005, and Press Secretary for Michael Steele for U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2006.

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Melissa to be a Commissioner on the Florida Commission on the Status of Women in 2022. She is a native of Texas and received her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband and two sons.

Lead Creative- 76 Words

Gretchell Trochez Aguilar currently serves as Lead Creative at 76 words, the most diverse media firm in Democratic politics. Notable clients include: the DCCC, Senate Majority PAC, candidates up and down the ballot in battleground states.

She also has a decade of experience in southern politics as a fundraiser. She served as finance director on Jen Jordan’s campaign for Georgia Attorney General, House Victory (the campaign arm of the Florida House Democrats),
and Ruth’s List, an organization dedicated to training pro-choice female candidates for public office in Florida.

Gretchell currently serves as a Board Member of Out of Hand, an organization that uses theater and art to tackle issues of racism, financial inequity, and pushes societal norms. In 2019, she was named as a Rising Star in Florida Politics by INFLUENCE Magazine.

Trochez Aguilar was born and raised in Miami as a first-generation Honduran American. She lives in Woodstock, GA with her husband Sam and their two dogs, Baxter and Stark.