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mindy@engagedc.com
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LinkedInMindy Finn jumped on the Internet bandwagon nearly a decade ago, well before online politics was cool. Starting as a journalist where Finn’s tech-savvy and youth led her to the new media department, Finn quickly transitioned to politics where she experienced firsthand how the Internet was changing the process from Capitol Hill to the race for the White House. Now Finn has inspired the next generation of leading techno-politicos.
Let the Record Show
Most recently, she served as the Director of “e”Strategy for the Mitt Romney for President campaign. In her role on the Romney campaign, she directed the effort to maximize technology and the web to best communicate the candidate’s message, raise money and mobilize a strong base of support. Tactics included web video, social networking, blog outreach, user-generated content gathering, email list building and online advertising. Through her team’s efforts, the campaign was recognized for such innovative efforts as Sign Up America!, MittTV, mini-Mitt, the Create Your Own Ad contest, and the Five Brothers’ Blog, and for bringing in over $25 million over the Internet.
In 2007, Finn was selected by Campaigns & Elections as a Rising Star in American politics and chosen as a fellow for the Institute of Politics, Democracy and Internet at George Washington University. She was profiled in a cover story for The Washington Post as part of its Political Operatives series and featured in Glamour magazine’s story on 10 political powerhouses under 40.
During the 2006 election cycle, Finn served as Director of New Media & Technology for U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, where her job also included guiding the campaign’s use of microtargeting to contact and turn out key voters. Finn was recognized by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for being the Republican’s best cyber campaigner in the nation and recognized by PoliticsPA.com for being one of Pennsylvania’s most accomplished political operatives 26 and under.
Helping to jumpstart the first eCampaign department at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2005, Finn, as Deputy Director, developed email programs that led to unprecedented responses in a non-election year, managed the website content for a highly, interactive grassroots-focused new GOP.com and hosted a popular online video series called Off the Record.
In 2004, the stellar communications and grassroots operations executed by Bush-Cheney ’04 relied heavily on the eCampaign, where Finn served as Deputy Webmaster. Both the RNC and Bush-Cheney ’04 won Golden Dots for their superior websites during Finn’s tenure.
Here and Now
Finn blogs at TechPresident.com and theNextRight.com, and at NPR’s Sunday Soapbox, where she provides general election insights, often taking her talk to the radio on Sunday’s Weekend Edition with Liane Hansen.
She has appeared on Hardball, PBS’ the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, C-SPAN, BBC Radio and several local networks speaking about the role of new media and technology in the political process.
Finn loves to meet new people in the space, develop her craft and perhaps pass on some words of wisdom. Thus, she has proudly been a featured speaker at the Politics Online conference, the Personal Democracy Forum, Kellog’s Media Management Center at Northwestern University, the New Politics Institute at University of Texas, and the AAPC, among others, since 2005.
Getting Personal
After getting her Journalism degree from Boston University, Finn started her career in Washington, D.C., serving in both the U.S. Senate and House in press and legislative roles. She has since moved between D.C., Pittsburgh, Boston and back to D.C. for work as an online strategist for political campaigns.
Yet, don’t mistake Finn for a Northeasterner — as a native Houston, Texan, Finn’s a big country music fan. One of her favorite quotes is, “you can take the girl out of Texas, but you’ll never, ever take the Texas out of the girl.” She now lives on Capitol Hill in DC, where she gets inspired by the sight of the U.S. Capitol on a daily basis. The country music habit is nurtured by an annual trip to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in March.
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