Meet The Team

Nicolas Muzin, MD, JD, is the Founder and Chairman of Stonington Global, where he focuses on strategic international advisory and private equity work and practices as an attorney.

Nick served at the highest levels of Republican politics, as Chief of Staff to two current U.S. Senators, Director of Coalitions for the House Republican Majority, and Senior Advisor to a presidential campaign. The New York Times has called him one of “Washington’s most influential deal-makers” and The Jerusalem Post has described his work as “jaw-dropping.”

A licensed physician, Nick’s first job in politics came when he took a semester off from his studies at Yale Law School  to serve as Counsel for the Republican National Committee during the re-election of President George W. Bush. In 2008, Nick was Senior Medical Advisor to the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain (R-AZ).

In 2010, Nick managed the campaign of now-Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who was elected as the first black Republican from the South since Reconstruction. With Nick as Chief of Staff, Scott was elected leader of the tea party class of 87 freshmen members of Congress and was subsequently appointed to the Senate.

From 2013-2014, Nick served as Director of Coalitions for the House Republican Conference, under the leadership of Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). In this position, Nick coordinated strategy and outreach for all 234 Republican majority members of Congress.

In July 2014, Nick was named Senior Advisor & Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). He also served as Senior Advisor on the Cruz presidential campaign, which The Washington Post called “the best run campaign of 2016.”

Nick has a law degree from Yale Law School, a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and a B.A. from Yeshiva University.

Frank Vitello has successfully led legislative and policy efforts at the federal and state level, managed issue campaigns nationally and locally, has aided clients with new ventures and acquisitions, market penetration, and in developing branding and partnering opportunities.

Formerly, Frank served as chief strategist for the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), the leading trade association representing the U.S. seafood community both domestically and internationally. His responsibilities included building and developing the industry’s political programs, political giving strategy, messaging and crisis management abilities. A large part of Frank’s responsibilities were also to work with foreign governments to establish parity with U.S. regulatory bodies. Today, Vitello Consulting is recognized among the top boutique firms servicing the international seafood community.

Frank also works directly with a number of sovereign governments throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This practice area commonly necessitates balancing the delicate relationships between Sovereign States, Intergovernmental Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and multinational corporations.

Frank served as Professional Staff for the United States House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. Regarded as key staff, Vitello was part of the ‘inner circle’ of advisors to the Chairman on some of the most contentious measures before the Committee’s jurisdiction. His relationships with the Speaker of the House, Committee Chairmen of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and House Foreign Relations Committee, as well as key members and committees of the U.S. Senate are well established.

Dan Huff has served as senior advisor in the White House and General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to that, he was counsel to the Chairmen of both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, where he led government investigations and oversaw signature policy implementation. Before moving to Washington, Dan was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York.

Dan is a graduate of the Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and University of Toronto, where he earned a degree in Math, Economics and History. His writing has been featured in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Politico, FoxNews and the LA Times. Dan serves on the Board of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, as well as on the Board of a publicly traded semiconductor company.

Chad Wilbanks has more than 25 years of experience in advising elected officials, corporations, law firms, non-profits, community leaders, and has led the crisis communications effort for a number of different organizations. Chad served as a senior political advisor to numerous elected officials, as executive director for Republican Party of Texas and regional political director for the Republican National Committee. He also founded the GOP Leadership Conference which trains Republican legislative staff on how to think politically in the policy arena.

Outside the political arena, Chad co-authored a business book published in five languages. He also founded the Gulf Coast Leadership Conference to encourage wise stewardship of Texas’ natural resources along the Gulf Coast.

Chad has served in numerous roles in his community, including having served as Chairman of the Lake Travis Youth Association, Chairman of the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament, Vice-Chairman of the Lake Travis High School Soccer Booster Club, and is a current board member of the Lake Travis Film festival. He is also a member of Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church and resides in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.

With almost three decades of public and private experience, Chanta Combs can analyze political,  policy, and market trends to develop and execute innovative strategies that generate new growth opportunities, preserve current market positions, and enhance companies’ competitive goals. In addition to serving as a legal and policy advisor to two Governors in Florida, she has also spent more than a decade managing cross-functional teams in large, complex organizations. Her deep knowledge of both the public and private sectors enables her to amplify political advocacy strategies by drafting white papers, talking points, legislative language, customized deliverables, and other strategic analysis and support.

After practicing law for several years in Florida, she served as a senior policy advisor to both Governor Jeb Bush (R) and Governor Charlie Crist (R), counselling them on a wide variety of public policy issues. During the Bush Administration, she also participated in the judicial nominating process, managed executive legal and procurement strategies, and represented the Governor’s environmental agencies before the Florida Cabinet. Following her public service, she worked for several national health care companies, including UnitedHealth Group, CVS, and Sevita—where she was responsible for managing political and policy strategies across multiple states and in Washington, DC.

Chanta received her bachelor’s degree and JD from Florida State University, and she resides in Tallahassee, FL.

Travis Johnson has 15 years of leadership experience on Capitol Hill, working with prominent members of the House Financial Services Committee, Senate Banking Committee, and Senate Small Business Committee. Throughout his career, Travis has demonstrated an ability to pass niche issues through a challenging political environment on Capitol Hill. He currently leads government affairs consulting firm 1607 Strategies and was named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2019.

Travis works with companies with traditional and unique business models on issues such as fintech, marketplace lending, cryptocurrency, payment systems, banking regulatory reform, financial services, tax, and securities. He also has experience with terrorism risk insurance, flood insurance, and corporate governance issues. Travis has extensive experience advocating for tax policy changes and banking regulatory reform in Congress, including the implementation of regulatory actions.

As a result of his years in Congress, Travis has extensive relationships in Congress, the administration, and with federal banking regulators. This includes but is not limited to the FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve, CFTC, OCC, and Export-Import Bank. Travis was Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator David Vitter (R-LA), a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, where he formed a reputation of bringing together bipartisan partnerships to get things accomplished on Capitol Hill. In addition to his top position in the Senate, Travis also served former Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) handling a portfolio of top relevant issues of the day.

Travis also served as Legislative Director to Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), the former head of the Republican Study Committee and active member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on health care policy, managing the Congressman’s legislative team and developing his policy agenda. Travis began his career working for Rep. Don Young (R-AK) on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in 2001. He also served as the lead policy advisor for a top-tier gubernatorial campaign during the 2015-2016 cycle.

Karl Notturno has years of experience in politics, advocacy campaigns and technology. He has worked on strategies for foreign countries navigating diplomatic crises, industry leaders shaping public policy, and coalitions working to reform trade policy. Karl also served as campaign manager for the US House of Representatives and executive director of a non-profit that placed dozens of homeless veterans into permanent housing. He is a graduate of Yale, with a B.A. in Philosophy and History.

Shanti is an experienced lobbyist with an extensive network on Capitol Hill. She has spent almost 20 years representing Fortune 500 corporations, trade associations and interest groups on a
wide variety of legislative matters. She managed legislative strategy, political campaign participation, long-term relationship building and 3 rd party engagement.

Shanti is skilled at managing multi-faceted legislative campaigns and coordinating diverse interests necessary to reach success. She has substantial expertise on Congressional floor procedures which she developed during her tenure with the House Democratic leadership.

Shanti started her political career former Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt. She spent over 8 years in the office where she served as his Floor Assistant, working directly with Members to create and implement the agenda. She advised Members and staff on the rules and procedures of the House, assisted Members with floor speeches, drafted talking points and advised Members how to vote on controversial issues. As one of the top aides to the Democratic Leader, she participated in weekly Democratic Caucus meetings to strategize on how to advance the party’s agenda.

Following Leader Gephardt’s departure, she worked for Speaker Pelosi in her role as Minority Leader before leaving to pursue a career in lobbying.

In 2008, Shanti joined a DC based lobbying firm, currently known as Avoq, where she spent 17 years managing several clients, including MolsonCoors, Delta Airlines, Churchill Downs, American Gaming Association, Intel Corporation and the National Football League. Additionally, she advised on many other corporations such as Amazon, Verizon, Facebook/Meta, Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, Pfizer and
UnitedHealth Group. Shanti currently works as independent lobbying contractor at her company, Oxford
Strategies LLC. She lives in Chevy Chase, MD with her 3 children, Sean (18), Brady (16) and Samantha (13).

John has worked on political campaigns, with a Super PAC, and in the law and lobbying space
during his time in Washington. While working with three members of the House Republican
Majority, he cultivated relationships on Capitol Hill and handled efforts related to trade and
healthcare policy. John helped lead Stonington Global’s semiconductor and cryptocurrency
efforts in 2022–23 and manages international projects, healthcare lobbying efforts, and state
operations for the firm. He is a graduate of Penn State with a B.A. in International Relations and
Classics.

Charlie Buckels has advocated for candidates, issues, financial services and law enforcement for over 30 years. He is accomplished at establishing business and political relationships with critical decision makers and then providing operational follow through on complex projects. After a successful career in the financial services industry, Charlie worked closely with mayors, council members, transportation directors, and law enforcement command staff to implement enforcement technology programs throughout the Southeastern United States. His role also required the monitoring of state legislation regarding public safety issues and assisting with the management of legislative action.

He has directed the marketing efforts for highly advanced project control and data analytics systems used in the large construction industry. Charlie is an effective public speaker who has a unique ability to persuade audiences regarding public policy, political candidates, and product value. He has provided key leadership for local, statewide, and federal political campaigns, including as State Chairman for the Newt Gingrich Presidential campaign. He has served as Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Finance Director of the Louisiana Republican Party. He was also elected Chairman of his County Party and Chairman of the Louisiana State Republican Convention. Charlie has served as a delegate to five Republican National Conventions and twice as a Presidential elector.

Charlie and his wife, Peggy, have four grown children and 15 perfect grandchildren.

Charlie graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a B.S. in Marketing and holds a professional degree as a Chartered Life Underwriter.

Jess Sadick has over 25 years of diverse experience in Washington, DC, spanning the Federal government, non-profit, and political advocacy arenas.

Jess was a counterterrorism official at the U.S. Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and on the National Security Business Team at global technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton assigned to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On 9/11, Jess was one of the first U.S. Government analysts to review the flight manifests to assist in identifying the perpetrators. He received Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards from the Assistant Secretary of State and CIA Director for outstanding analysis concerning the Israel-Palestinian conflict, state-sponsored terrorism, and the 9/11 attacks.

For a decade, Jess has run his own political advocacy and fundraising consulting firm serving non-profit clients seeking to inform and influence U.S. national security policy. He has documented the emergence of global violent extremism and the development of counter-extremism initiatives and has briefed policymakers on terrorists’ exploitation of the Internet, including social media platforms and interest in encryption technologies and cryptocurrencies. Jess has led hundreds of meetings with elected officials and their staff on Capitol Hill and served in the offices of U.S Representatives Bill Paxon and Jack Kingston and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.

Jess has served as a consultant to state emergency management agencies, helping them to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism through planning, training, and exercise development. Jess has an extensive network of contacts across the Federal government, legislative branch, law enforcement, think-tanks, academia, and U.S. Jewish communal organizations.

Jess earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government) and Political Science at American U

Morgan Neuhoff worked as a State Association Advocacy Manager for the National Association of Convenience Stores where she developed and executed programs that supported over 130 state and community associations in the convenience store industry.

Previously, Morgan managed federal and state/local issues at BoatUS, tracking and advocating on behalf of recreational boating activities. Prior to BoatUS, Morgan worked on Capitol Hill, initially for Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) and later for Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC).

Morgan holds a J.D. from Ohio Northern University and a B.A. in Government from Wofford College.

Alex Shively has served in Congress for 15 years for Members of both the House and Senate including Senators Saxby Chambliss and Elizabeth Dole, as well as Chairmen Tom Price and Chris Cox in the House of Representatives.

While in Congress, he led policy and legislative efforts on a wide range of issues including telecom, energy and financial services. Alex also worked for the Republican Study Committee.

Having run a number of campaigns, he has extensive expertise in grassroots organization, community outreach and strategic communications, and has demonstrated success at the local, state and federal level. Alex continues to be on the cutting-edge of public policy, working with candidates and coalitions to more effectively communicate positions and to better organize local activists to participate in the legislative and electoral process. His background in management, including the development, communication and execution of winning policy and legislative strategies is instrumental in meeting clients’ short- and long-term goals.

In addition to political and campaign experience, he has also led the government affairs department of a national trade organization, where he spear-headed strategic policy efforts on a wide range of legislative interests on the Hill, in state legislatures and abroad. His work includes successfully navigating the needs of the organization’s diverse membership in order to reach consensus across complex and varied interests. He has a strong understanding of the legislative and regulatory process and continues to maintain strong relationships on both sides of the aisle, as well as on Pennsylvania Avenue.

In his personal time, Alex and his wife, Bethany, share a passion for foster care and adoption, advocating for greater community participation, stronger tax incentives, and a more streamlined process toward family permanency.

Alex holds a B.A. in Finance from California State University, Fullerton.

Joel Gilbert is a veteran Hollywood film director and producer, as well as an author. He has produced 20 documentary features films on US politics and international affairs, as well as many political advertisements. Gilbert is also a political commentator and foreign policy analyst. He appears regularly on TV and radio talk shows to discuss current events, and has lectured for the Hudson Institute. Gilbert once worked for then US Senator Al Gore as a student intern, and later was a videographer and media advisor for the Ted Cruz for President campaign in 2016.

Gilbert is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BA) in the United Kingdon, and George Washington University (MBA) in the US.

Eric Robson is the former Ambassador of the Republic of Madagascar to the United States and the former Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Development Board of Madagascar. His area of expertise covers diplomacy, international development, trade, investment, and competitiveness specifically in emerging markets.

During his 11 years at the EDBM, he spearheaded investment promotion and facilitation and routinely advised the Presidency on economic development. He worked with hundreds of companies around the world to facilitate increased business activity in Madagascar and lead the implementation of dozens of key reforms to the Malagasy business climate. He has extensive experience working in sectors as disparate as agribusiness, tourism, energy, information and communications technology, textiles, and mining. He also has strong working relationships with key international organizations, including the World Bank/IFC, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Eric holds a Master’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, focusing on International Marketing Strategy, and a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. He is fluent in English, French, and Malagasy.

With 15 years of experience in government affairs and in Congress, Caroline Rafferty manages the 1607 Strategies research team and conducts policy analysis to ensure clients across sectors are advised of and develop strategy around critical energy, commerce, tax, financial regulation, and small business matters. In addition, she administers political spending. 

Before joining 1607 Strategies, Caroline directed operations at Fierce Government Relations. In that capacity she ran the daily operations of the firm – helping it grow from 37 to over 60 clients while supporting lobbyists in both client services and Hill outreach. She organized and led Capitol Hill fly-in meetings for Fortune 100 and leading trade group clients, leveraging her knowledge of House and Senate offices to tailor messaging and accomplish client goals. Caroline worked with congressional offices, including leadership and committee staff, and kept clients up to date on issues critical to their business success. She worked on co-sponsor efforts tapping into her existing Hill relationships to gain critical momentum and significantly increase the number of members engaged on various client issues. Caroline also managed whip lists and hill outreach progress across numerous clients, using that information to further hone their lobbying efforts.

At Fierce, she took a lead in managing the operations of several coalitions. She helped launch and run a leading business group, Coalition for the American Dream, which now has more than 140 members, including Fortune 100 companies, top technology firms, and leading business trade groups. She organized multiple Capitol Hill fly-ins for the organization and engaged its members in advocacy efforts, sign-on letters, public relations campaigns, and legal briefs including a Supreme Court Amicus Brief that was later sited in Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion in the case. She served as the Secretary/Treasurer for both the Coalition for the American Dream and the American Television Alliance. Caroline has deep experience with operations and management. Previously, she worked on Capitol Hill in the office of Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs where she handled logistics and operations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Virginia.