Our Story

Jeannie Carlson

Jeannie Carlson headshot

Founding Partner

Jeannie Carlson, the Founding Partner of Blue Nation Strategies, began her career while still in college as Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez’s Deputy Finance Director. In 2008, she was on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in four states—Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Indiana. She served as the deputy campaign manager for the New York Suffolk County Coordinated Campaign in 2011, winning all ten targeted races. Jeannie has developed creative, award-winning mail programs from Hawaii to New Hampshire and Arizona to Florida. Her past clients include Senator Harry Reid, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Everytown for Gun Safety, Planned Parenthood, EMILY’s List, End Citizens United, the National Education Association, the Ohio Education Association, the Pennsylvania State Senate and House Caucuses, the Maryland State House Caucus, the Colorado State House Caucus, and the League of Conservation Voters, to name just a few.

We’re proud to work with a diverse group of partners and vendors.

100% of our Partners identify as female, LGBTQ+, Black, or Hispanic.

Our Partners

Leah Jones headshot

  • Leah has a decade of experience in data-driven digital content development and marketing for individuals, organizations, small businesses, and campaigns. With a master of science in merchandising, Leah began her career concentrating on consumer behavior and trend forecasting to understand how buying patterns and social changes impact purchase decisions. This led her to brand development and marketing campaigns, researching niche markets, managing customer relationships, and developing e-commerce rollouts. At Blue Nation Strategies, Leah has worked with campaigns across the country to build their brands through creative and data-driven digital and direct mail campaigns. She works closely with our clients, our designers, our data team, and our printers to make sure that your pieces are on brand, on time, and on budget.

Sam Nitz headshot

  • Sam is the driving force at Asgard Strategies & Analytics, a gay-owned political consulting firm. Sam and Asgard are trusted partners of Blue Nation, working closely with the Blue Nation team to develop sophisticated, data-driven targeting plans for the mail program. Sam has over 17 years of experience in message strategy, targeting, and managing programs for clients at all levels of the ballot. As Deputy Independent Expenditure Director at EMILY’s List, Sam ran one of the largest and most cutting-edge digital media expenditures in progressive history to engage and turnout Millennial women. A leading voice in Progressive and Democratic targeting, Sam has trained hundreds of operatives across the country in messaging and analytics strategy, including for such organizations as the League of Conservation Voters, NDI, Lillian’s List, EMILY’s List, the DCCC, and the New Organizing Institute.

Eli Turner headshot

  • Eli is an acclaimed portrait and documentary photographer who first became interested in visual storytelling while studying film production at Howard University. He continued to work in the motion picture industry for 10 years on features, commercials, TV shows, and documentaries. Eli draws from his filmmaking background to capture authentic, inspirational, and intimate moments in the portrait photography he does today.

Kate Connolly Headshot

  • Over nine campaign cycles, Kate has created over a thousand unique pieces for hundreds of Democratic, progressive, and liberal candidates and causes. She initially spent several years traveling the country working on Democratic campaigns. Since then she’s gained well over a decade of intense, politically minded graphic design experience — creating pieces with a graphic punch and clear visual messaging that stand out in the mailbox.

Jenn Cordova headshot

  • Jenn Cordova is the owner and lead creative behind Jenn Cordova Design, a boutique branding design studio out of Nashville, Tennessee. With a bachelor’s degree for graphic design from the Art Institute of Colorado, Jenn now has over 12 years of design and visual messaging experience. She primarily works on giving visual identities and polish to small businesses around the nation and focuses on the health, fitness, and food industries—but a side passion has been designing political mail and branding for progressive causes since the 2016 cycle. As a mother of two girls, she strives to protect women’s rights, make our schools safer, and allow our country to be a more inclusive place for all children to grow up in. After working with numerous large mail firms, Jenn found a perfect fit and a lasting partnership with Jeannie Carlson and Blue Nation Strategies.

Hector Nieto headshot

  • Hector Nieto, founder of Laredo Strategies, has over 25 years of experience in Texas government and politics. Throughout his career he has used his bilingual communications skills and field experience to promote countless candidates and elected officials throughout Texas and other states. A veteran of the Texas Legislature and political campaigns at the local, state, and national level, Hector has advised candidates and organizations including Senator Wendy Davis, Congressman Martin Frost, the Texas Democratic Party, and the Lone Star Project, a strategic communications and political research group based in Texas and Washington DC. He also served as the 2012 Texas State Director for Obama for America.

    Hector is a native of Laredo, TX and a graduate of St. Edwards University in Austin, TX.