Advance Camp 2026 Speakers

We are grateful to the below leaders for lending their time and expertise to speak at Advance Camp this year - we have an excellent lineup of speakers with a wealth of experience to share.

We are especially appreciative of everyone taking the time to speak on a weekend, on their personal time - thank you to all!

Adam Baron

Amelia Berger

A native of Arkansas, Adam Baron has served as in advance and logistics roles for the Hillary 2016 and Biden 2020 campaigns, Director of Scheduling and Advance for Tim Kaine in 2018 and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff in 2024, along with Director of Protocol for USAID, and Director of Scheduling and Advance for Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff. He is currently the Director of Production at 50 Thirteen.

Gab DeFranceschi

Meg DiMartino

Travis Dredd

STERLING ELMORE

Sterling Elmore served on the advance staff for Hillary for America, several roles with Bloomberg Philanthropies, and has served Kamala Harris as her campaign’s National Trip Director, the Associate Director of the Office of the Vice President-Elect for the inauguration, and is now the Director of Advance for the Office of the Vice President.

STEVE FEDER

Steve Feder is the former CEO of CheckIn Tech and long served the New York City Council executing special events . He worked on the 2021 inauguration as a Deputy Director of Events and Ceremonies and is now the Chief of Protocol and Director of Scheduling and Advance for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Jordan Finkelstein

Meg was the Director of Major Events & Crowd Advance on the Harris for President campaign, overseeing all of the campaign’s rallies. Prior to that, she was the Director of Presidential Advance on the Biden campaign and served as advance staff throughout the Biden Administration. After 2024, Meg founded an event consultancy, delivering events and strategic support to campaigns and non-profit organizations.

Jordan has experience developing and executing public affairs and paid media campaigns for candidates, corporations, issue-advocacy groups and political action committees. He joins SKDK from the Biden-Harris White House after serving in a senior role on the Biden-Harris campaign’s paid media team. In 2018, he worked on the media strategy for congressional and statewide races, as well as third party and independent expenditure programs.

EVAN GLOVER

Gab DeFranceschi served as an Obama-Biden White House Intern, Advance Associate and Senior Advance Coordinator. She also served the Biden-Harris campaign, The Obama Foundation, and the Biden-Harris White House before founding her own boutique event consulting practice, where she now serves as an Executive Producer to deliver non-profit, venture start-up and government adjacent client convenings. Her time as an Advancer instilled in her a core belief that each engagement is an opportunity to prioritize how we make people feel, thus building the brand, legacy and story that creates a ripple effect.

Evan Glover served on the advance team for the 2012 Obama-Biden re-elect and later was the Associate Director of Advance in the Office of Vice President Joe Biden. On the Biden for President campaign, he was an advance lead and during the general election, served as the Director of Advance for VP Nominee Kamala Harris. Following a role as the Director of Advance for the transition, he now serves as the Trip Director at the U.S. Department of State.

GREG HALE

Greg Hale served in senior roles for the Kerry Edwards campaign and Mike Bloomberg for President campaign, and was the Trip Director in 2008 and Senior Advisor and Production Director in 2016 for Hillary Clinton’s campaigns. He is a founding partner of Markham.

LIZ HART

Liz Hart founded Liz Hart Productions in 2012, where she consulted on major events, including Super Bowls, DNC Conventions and Olympic Games. She was previously the Director of Message Events for the Office of Vice President Biden and now serves as the Deputy Social Secretary at The White House.

MEGHAN HAYS

Travis Dredd has served as a Deputy CEO at the 2012 and 2016 DNC Conventions and Director of Advance, John Kerry for President in the NH Primary. He is currently the Trip Director to the President.

Meghan Hays was a Deputy Communications Director on the Biden for President campaign. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Enterprise Communications for MGM Resorts International and also served as the Deputy Director of Communications for the Office of Vice President Joe Biden. She is currently a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Message Planning at The White House.

ANDREA HOLTERMAN

Andrea organizes left-leaning efforts for Google's Civics Outreach team in Washington, DC. As a part of the Civics Outreach team, she works with elected officials, candidates, and more to help them establish their presence online with authoritative information and protect their information across Google platforms. Prior to joining Google, Andrea worked for several campaigns and nonprofits, most recently managing a congressional campaign in her home state of Maryland.

ALEX HORNBROOK

Alex Hornbrook was the Director of Scheduling for the Office of Vice President Joe Biden, then the Director of Scheduling and Advance for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign. He was later the Director of Operations for Democracy Forward. He’s was previously the Director of Debate Planning in the 2020 primary cycle at the Democratic National Committee and now serves there as the Director of Convention Planning & Special Projects.

Zaina Javaid

Zaina Javaid worked on the advance staffs of the 2012 Obama re-elect and 2016 Hillary campaigns and was the Deputy Director of Hall Operations for the 2016 DNC Convention. She worked on both the 2013 and 2021 inaugurations and served in the Obama administration as an advance associate at the White House and in the office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Interior. She now serves as the Director of Policy and Public Engagement for the Office of the Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.

JOYCE KAZADI

Joyce Kazadi was an advance lead for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign then joined Axios as the Director of Events and then Director of Partner Engagement. She was the Director of Advance for the 2020 Kamala Harris For The People campaign and now serves as the Director of Scheduling & Advance for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

ARI KRUPKIN

Ari Krupkin is currently Director of Scheduling and Advance under Secretary Janet Yellen at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Previously Krupkin served on the advance staff for the 2012 Obama-Biden re-elect and Obama-Biden White House. In early 2019 Krupkin joined Biden for President as Director of Production and later served as Deputy Director of the Events and Ceremonies team for the Biden-Harris Inauguration.

DOUG LANDRY

Doug Landry served on the advance staffs for the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, the 2012 Obama re-elect, and 2016 Clinton Campaign, ending that one as the Trip Director for VP Nominee (and Best Living American) Tim Kaine.

In addition to founding the original Advance Camp in 2019, he currently works as an event producer, working with great causes to bring big ideas to life. He wrote every word of these bios, which is why this one has a touch more pizazz.

MAGGIE MURPHY

Maggie Murphy was the director of surrogate advance for the Biden-Harris campaign. On President Obama's re-election campaign, she was a political trip coordinator for Mrs. Obama. Since 2011, Maggie has served on President Biden's advance teams on domestic and international trips. She is now the Director of Scheduling and Advance at the Department of Education.

DAVID PLEVAN

David Plevan is a co-founder of Production Management One with more than 20 years of experience in the event production industry, specializing in managing highly technical and logistically complicated events. He has served in senior production roles for national presidential campaigns, presidential inaugurations, and conventions.

Kenny Thompson, Jr.

Kenny Thompson is currently the Vice President of Executive Affairs, North America, for PepsiCo. Previously he was the Director of Message Events in the Office of Vice President Biden and Senior Advisor in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Christian University and Commissioner on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.

Val Sanders

Val Sanders started in advance during the first Obama-Biden term, worked as a press lead during the re-elect, and was an advance lead for the Vice President in the second term. After the administration, he was the Director of Advance for the Office of the New York State Attorney General, then an Advance Lead for Biden for President and served on the Events and Ceremonies team for the inauguration. He now serves as the Director of Travel Operations for the U.S. Department of Defense.

OPAL VADHAN

Opal Vadhan served as the Executive Assistant and Trip Director to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton. During her time she was also a book collaborator on The Book of Gutsy Women. During the pandemic, Opal volunteered with World Central Kitchen. Prior to working for Secretary Clinton, Opal was on the National Advance team for Hillary for America. Currently, she serves as the Personal Aide to the Vice President.

MAJU VARGHESE

Maju Varghese is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the National Endowment for Democracy. Prior to that, he was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office. He was the Executive Director of the 2021 Presidential Inauguration and was COO and Senior Advisor on the Biden for President campaign. In the Obama administration, he was Assistant to the President for Management and Administration and a Deputy Director of Advance.

PETER VELZ

Peter Velz was a White House Intern and then took on full time roles as a Media Monitor, Press Assistant, then Special Assistant to the Director and Director of Special Projects. Later, he was the Assistant Vice Chancellor for External Affairs for The State University of New York. Returning to politics, he was the Director of Press Operations for the VP Nominee, Kamala Harris, a role he retained on the transition, and into the White House. He is now a Senior Protocol Officer for the U.S. Department of State

Abbey Watson

Abbey Watson worked on the 2008 Democratic National Convention, before becoming the Special Assistant and scheduler to Madeleine Albright. She was an Advance Associate for the Obama White House, and served on the Major Events and Conferences staff at the State Department. On the 2020 cycle she served as Senior Director of Principal Operations for Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. She is a Founding Partner of Weymouth/Watson.