Nell McGarity Callahan is a Vice President with SKDKnickerbocker. A multi-talented communications professional, Callahan works with associations and issue advocacy clients to provide communications strategy, messaging and national and local earned media placement. She works across issue areas to provide a wide range of services and strategies.

With experience on Capitol Hill, Callahan has a broad understanding of the political landscape and the mechanics of press work. As Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), she engaged New Hampshire and national media on issues including health care reform, Wall Street reform, comprehensive energy legislation, national security and pressing economic issues.

Previously, as a director at The Glover Park Group, Callahan worked across issue areas, including technology, transportation, immigration and civil liberties. She has also worked with some of Washington’s leading institutions, including the Aspen Institute and the Brookings Institution. For the non-profit Center for Constitutional Rights, Callahan helped develop and execute an award-winning integrated campaign to promote the Center’s Guantanamo Bay-related activities and expertise. She also worked for some of the firm’s most recognizable clients, including Microsoft, United Health Group, the Private Equity Council, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Gates Foundation.

As press campaign manager for Election Protection, Callahan led a national and state-based media communications campaign that earned placement in the New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and National Journal, and garnered more than 1000 print newspaper hits and 400 local TV placements in states across the nation.

Prior to joining The Glover Park Group, Callahan designed and implemented the communications activities on the federal, state and local level for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a leading nonpartisan, organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. She also was the Assistant Director of Public Affairs at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and worked in the communications department at the national headquarters of the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign. She received her M.A. in Media and Public Affairs and her B.A. in Liberal Arts from The George Washington University.