Jaclyn is an appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration and was sworn in as the Director of Public Affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in July 2021. Jaclyn is a public affairs, media relations, crisis communications strategist and seasoned on-the-record spokesperson. She has advised C-suite executives, high-profile elected officials, and political leaders operating on national and local stages. With nearly 15 years of experience, she understands the varying perspectives media, state, local and congressional leaders have on key issues and approaches her work with anticipation of how each stakeholder will react.
Jaclyn leads a team of nearly 20 people and guides the agency’s media and messaging strategies on key priorities of the administration such as disaster response and recovery, climate change, workforce readiness and equity. She is committed to building strong teams and encourages creative strategic thinking along with a forward leaning approach for how communications plans are executed.
Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Jaclyn led the Georgia Communications Team for the Biden-Harris Campaign. Jaclyn also previously served nearly five years in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Administration as a spokesperson and senior communications advisor. During her tenure, she led the First Lady of New York City’s communications team, and counseled Mayor de Blasio on and other administration officials on budget, mass transit, emergency response, housing, homelessness, mental health, and education issues. Prior to her time in New York City government, Jaclyn served on Hillary Clinton’s campaign as a press secretary in Western Pennsylvania and supported the advance team on various primary and general election events.
Jaclyn has also counseled C-suite executives and fortune 50 leaders, and understands client-service delivery, having served as a Vice President at SKDKnickerbocker in New York City. She has also worked at Teneo and formerly known as Burson-Marsteller in a communications capacity. Jaclyn is a graduate of the George Washington University.