About
Context Strategies, LLC, was founded with the sole purpose of helping clients achieve their objectives through integrated storytelling. We are a new type of strategic communications consultancy: built on speed, efficiency and data, we blend traditional and digital strategies to help our clients excel in the changing media environment.
With years of C-Level industry and agency experience in the three sectors that drive the most societal change (energy/environment, health care, and technology), everything we do is shaped through the lens of real-time context. When the context surrounding an issue or brand changes, so does our approach.
Team
Sean Donahue
Sean Donahue is founder and principal, with more than 30 years of experience. He leads winning campaigns for Fortune 500 corporate, trade association, and health care advocacy clients that are navigating complex regulatory, legislative and public policy environments.
As a senior member of the global public affairs team at Dell, Sean directed communications programs on issues ranging from health care and education to energy and the environment. Additionally, he managed communications for Dell’s executive leadership team.
Earlier in his career, Sean was a Senior White House Correspondent for WBZ-Radio in Boston and covered the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns. He also served as an on-air analyst for CNN's Financial Network and a member of the White House Advance Staff while in college. He planned and executed media activities for foreign and domestic presidential trips, including the 2000 G-8 Summit in Okinawa and the Syrian/Israeli peace talks in Shepherdstown, W.V. In the early 1990s, Sean was a tobacco control advocate and spokesman for the American Cancer Society and led organizing efforts in support of anti-smoking legislation.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in government from the University of Virginia.
Emma Hurley Palmer
Emma Hurley Palmer is a seasoned communications and advocacy leader with deep expertise in health care issues and policy. Through a diverse set of work experiences -- including Capitol Hill, political campaigns, the biotechnology industry and global communications firms -- she has a unique understanding of the complex legislative, regulatory, reimbursement and reputational priorities facing health care organizations today.
Prior to joining Context Strategies, Emma was a Senior Vice President in the health care practice at Weber Shandwick where she counseled leading biopharmaceutical companies on a range of policy issues.
She also served for six years in Amgen's Corporate Communications department as a product and policy communications lead.
Conor McGrath
Conor McGrath is a senior account manager. With eight years of experience in public affairs, he supports our clients in the life sciences sector with nuanced written content that brings clarity and insight to complex public policy issues. His focus is on building engaging narratives with clear and impactful messaging that resonate deeply with audiences. Prior to joining the team, he spent six years at Schmidt Public Affairs representing health care providers, medical associations, patient advocacy groups, and academic research organizations.
His career in public affairs began when he started working on a political campaign in his home state of New Jersey. Progressing through roles as a field organizer, communications staffer and opposition researcher, he later went on to support issue advocacy campaigns for the AFL-CIO. Conor holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the George Washington University where he served as the executive editor of Policy Perspectives, GWU’s graduate student public policy journal. He is also a former contributor to the digital news site Media File where he covered international media and global press freedom issues. When not in the office, he enjoys biking, traveling, tabletop board gaming, and is an avid science fiction fan.
Callie Caplan
Callie Caplan is a senior account manager, supporting the firm’s clients through content creation, multi-platform communications, media messaging, and project management.
With a passion for cultivating relationships and a track record of effective audience-building strategies, Callie is enthusiastic about elevating clients’ profiles and ensuring their messaging aligns seamlessly with their policy, perception, and business performance goals. In her role, she actively shapes, refines, and advances the narrative for companies, advocacy organizations, and associations within the dynamic life sciences sector.
Before joining Context Strategies in July 2023, Callie spent five years as a journalist at The Dallas Morning News, where she earned multiple promotions to become the newspaper’s lead beat reporter for Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. While honing her skills as a writer, she leveraged social media and audience analysis tools to become one of the publication’s top journalists in digital growth and engagement. She has also worked for The Washington Post, USA Today, CBS Baltimore, and The Baltimore Sun.
Kelly Harmon
Kelly Harmon serves as the firm's creative manager, providing counsel and execution for the full range of written, visual, and video materials. Her keen design eye and strong communications skills have helped implement multiple successful campaigns for complex health care advocacy, regulatory, and legislative issues.
Kelly has a bachelor’s degree in communications and digital media studies from Florida State University, and experience at every level of creative production – from developing ideas to delivering polished projects.
Marina Marich
Marina Marich brings more than 25 years of experience developing strategy and tactics for B2B, B2C and associations with a background rooted in journalism and corporate communications consulting. She has developed strategic communications programming across industries in corporate, employee, reputation management, crisis and litigation, media and public relations, and public affairs.
Marina has led engagements with many leading companies and organizations, and serves on two non-profit, youth-focused boards: Youth & Opportunity United and Evanston High School Hockey. A Chicago native, Marina began her professional career as a newspaper reporter for the Indianapolis Star, Arizona Republic/Phoenix Gazette and the (Danville) Commercial-News.
She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and Spanish from Franklin College in Indiana and a master’s degree in public communication from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Diane Smiroldo
Diane Smiroldo is a decisive, strategic, tactical planner and project manager. Her experience includes more than two decades developing and implementing communications strategies for trade associations, coalitions, non-profits, start-ups, and corporations in several industries, including health care and patient advocacy, technology, commercial space, aerospace, security/defense, and the government IT sector.
Diane specializes in strategies that encompass all facets of communications including earned media, thought leadership, marketing/communications, content development, social media, and event promotion.
Leo Zini
Leo Zini serves as creative director with extensive corporate and public sector experience in all aspects of digital and print design, including web design, presentation design, data visualization, infographic design, and brand execution.
Leo has worked with numerous Fortune 500 corporations, non‐profit organizations, and pre-eminent creative agencies and global brands including Accenture, Adobe, American Express, AT&T, Blue Shield, DOW, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, PhRMA, The New York Stock Exchange, Stanford University, Interbrand, TIAA‐CREF, Georgetown University, and the University of California.
Faith Grant
Faith Grant serves as production manager leading the creative team with more than twenty years of professional experience in creative services, sales, business development, and communications consulting in the private, government, and non‐profit sectors.
She has worked for Fortune 500 firms including American Express and John Hancock as well as the United States Congress and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
She is a cum laude graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in Latin American & Caribbean Studies from Florida International University in Miami, Florida.
Approach
From Washington, D.C. to London to New Delhi, influence circles are in constant flux. Gone are the days where focusing on the outcome of an issue was dependent on a handful of proven strategies or tactics. Shaping context is critical to ensuring a positive outcome.
A New Approach
This is why we built a new kind of communications consultancy: building programs around the context that informs decisions by designing and implementing integrated campaigns.
The Q2 Method – the idea that qualitative and quantitative must live together in strategic communications – creates a level playing field for digital and traditional. Focusing on one at the expense of the other puts clients at a disadvantage. Effective storytelling matters foremost, with sharable content, audience engagement and analytics helping to ensure impact.
Rules We Live By
Every campaign, strategy, project, idea and deliverable must be developed with the day’s context in mind (e.g. what resonates on Tuesday morning may not resonate on Thursday afternoon):
News that broke in the past hour matters.
So does what’s trending on social media.
Shorter is usually better.
The power of words, visuals, and ideas trump the media by which they’re communicated. Always.
This is how we build compelling narratives that help our clients meet objectives and earn a trustworthy seat at the conversation table.
Services
We design and implement highly actionable, results-oriented and efficient communications programs for innovative companies, industry associations and non-profit organizations. While most firms list digital or creative services as unique offerings, we believe that they must be an inherent part of our approach.
Research & Analytics
From traditional polling and focus groups to complex social media analytics, data-driven narratives have the power to change minds.
Strategic Planning
A comprehensive, well-thought-out strategy is fundamental to success. Our first step is developing your strategy; then we’ll help you implement it.
Messaging
Often viewed as second priority in strategic communications, the power of words, narratives, and ideas matters above all else.
Media & Influencer Relations
Reporters, bloggers, policy elites, and those at the center of the conversation are usually the ones driving it. We’ll keep you in front of them.
Paid Media
Our advertising campaigns combine targeted digital and traditional platforms with creative that not only gets noticed, but compels audiences to act. We know because we test it, adjust it and test it again.
Ally Development & Mobilization
Cultivating the right champions to advocate for or against a specific objective often shapes the outcome. People, not processes, reinforce the urgency of action.
Campaign Management
From complex legislative and regulatory issues to what’s on the mind of the C-Suite, we design and implement communications programs with one eye on the short-term and the other squarely on what comes next.
