Southwest Strategies
Chris Wahl is the Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Strategies, an award-winning public affairs firm with a long track record of success on behalf of its clients. Over the past 20+ years, Wahl has helped secure and build more than $10 billion of infrastructure projects in the fields of energy, transportation, water and retail development.

High profile projects that he has helped approve include the Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Line, the revitalization of the Westfield UTC Shopping Center and the North Coast Corridor Project, a 27-mile improvement along Interstate 5. All of these projects faced considerable opposition before ultimately being approved. Wahl’s company has also developed and implemented numerous construction outreach programs for controversial assignments, including the Carlsbad Desalination Project.

Wahl is a skilled client representative and negotiator, often serving as the primary strategist, interfacing with government bodies on behalf of his clients. His unique approach of forming complex community coalitions of support to bolster controversial projects has been recognized numerous times on a national level. Wahl’s firm has won three prestigious Silver Anvils, the highest distinction bestowed upon professionals by the National Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Wahl has also been recognized in San Diego, winning the “Public Relations Professional of the Year” award in 2015 for his work on the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update. Wahl served as the lead strategist and spokesperson on behalf of San Diego’s maritime industry, leading to a successful citywide referendum that was supported by an overwhelming margin at the polls.

Prior to Southwest Strategies, Wahl served as President of Wahl Associates, Inc. where he worked extensively with Unocal Corporation and Tosco Refining Company on the Central Coast. Before forming his own firm, Wahl worked as a Vice President for a prominent Southern California public affairs firm. Additionally, Wahl worked in the government relations department for the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.

Wahl is active in the community, volunteering for a number of local organizations and causes. He is a member of the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and a lifetime committee member of the San Diego Bowl Association. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Wahl spends his free time adoring his three kids, playing golf, traveling with his family and dreaming of the UCLA football Bruins winning the Rose Bowl.

BergDavis Public Affairs
‍Jessica Berg’s background in campaign politics and media strategy led her from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco where she established the professional consulting firm BergDavis Public Affairs with her partner Evette Davis in 1999. Ms. Berg and Ms. Davis supervise a staff which offers the highest quality counseling in media relations, community outreach, government affairs, and lobbying.

Ben Boyce’s love for politics began at a young age as manager of his best friend’s campaign for elementary class president. Several decades later, he is now Senior Vice President of Southwest Strategies, where he plays a leading role in the outcomes of many of the most significant issues facing California and the Western United States.

Boyce has supported his clients’ effort to address our nation’s housing crisis by helping to win government approvals for more than 25,000 homes across California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. He has supported local, state and federal permitting of more than $2 billion in infrastructure projects as well, delivering the clean energy, water and transportation options that fuel sustainable economies and the jobs they support. He regularly advocates on behalf of hardworking customers for fair energy and water rates and to ensure families can attend the schools of their choice. His creative outreach programs have helped more than 10 million Californians understand the importance of conserving water and he was a key architect of a support coalition that led to the unanimous passage of San Diego’s landmark Climate Action Plan.

Boyce has been recognized with more than 35 awards for his efforts, including Orange County’s crisis PR of the year, top outreach program in the state, the nation’s best website for a government utility and San Diego Metro Magazine’s 40 under 40. Not to mention an undefeated record in elementary class president elections.

Melissa Cameron has an extensive history in public affairs, public relations, community outreach and project management. She serves as a Senior Vice President at Southwest Strategies. Drawing upon her experience in government relations and communications, Cameron develops and implements strategic communications campaigns for clients, with an emphasis in guiding clients through multifaceted and comprehensive community and multicultural outreach. She also oversees major infrastructure projects for the company’s public utility clients, developing and managing the implementation of strategic outreach plans.

She has a broad range of experience in strategic planning, coalition building, public outreach, crisis communications, media relations, social media and event planning. She also has a strong background in environmental and regulatory law and land use, using her experience to direct developers through the entitlement process.

Before coming to Southwest Strategies, Cameron worked for the Exoro Group in Salt Lake City, which earned honors as Utah’s “Best of State” Public Relations firm, specializing in strategic communications and political outreach. Cameron has been volunteering and working on political campaigns since the age of 15, moving from stuffing envelopes to managing campaigns with hundreds of thousands of voters. She worked on a number of public bond campaigns in Utah, creating and implementing plans to educate and persuade voters on issues ranging from transportation infrastructure to arts and culture to public safety.

Over her career, Cameron has consulted with many nonprofits, and she continues to assist groups in their missions. She has created and published guides on affordable housing, formed collaborative arts groups, and aided nonprofits on how to effectively communicate with elected officials, the media and the community. Cameron has also worked with numerous start-up companies, guiding entrepreneurs through the world of government regulation, public relations and social media.

Cameron has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in local government and regulatory affairs. She is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha and the Public Relations Society of America, serving as President-Elect for the San Diego/Imperial Counties chapter.

Outside of work, you can find Cameron wandering around her Little Italy neighborhood with her husband and Yorkie puppy, trying out the latest recipe she found or catching up on her book club reading.

BergDavis Public Affairs
‍Evette Davis is a veteran communications professional with extensive experience in politics, public relations and public affairs. A former journalist and congressional press secretary, Davis co-manages the firm’s public affairs activities with her partner Jessica Berg. An accomplished writer, Davis has published two novels and in 2014, founded her own independent press.

Stephanie Dell serves as Senior Vice President at Southwest Strategies, combining her experience in government, community and media relations to deliver effective education and outreach campaigns for clients. At Southwest Strategies, Dell offers a wide range of support from reputation management and crisis communications to assistance in land use and entitlement matters.

In her role at Southwest Strategies, Dell is responsible for the development and implementation of strategic communications plans for clients. Dell has played key roles in securing land use approvals for multiple residential communities and has successfully navigated complex annexation and boundary line adjustments.

Dell also has extensive experience in the energy industry having previously worked for Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). In her role at PG&E, Dell drove positive media coverage, served as a company spokesperson on a variety of high-profile topics and supported internal communications for Gas Operations.

Dell has a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with an emphasis in media arts from California State University, Chico and has received a certificate in land use and environmental sustainability through the University of San Diego.

Elizabeth A. Hansen is a senior strategist and project manager with more than 20 years of experience in strategic planning and the implementation of community, government and media outreach programs.

At Southwest Strategies, Hansen assists a wide variety of private and public clients through the entitlement process, overseeing outreach programs related to land use, transportation and infrastructure projects for clients such as Tri Pointe Homes (FKA Pardee Homes), Starbucks, SANDAG, Caltrans, Poseidon Water and the City of Carlsbad. A veteran event planner, Hansen has coordinated some of the firm’s largest special events, including grand openings, community celebrations and ribbon-cuttings.

Hansen is a graduate of Arizona State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. In 2018, she was appointed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer to the City of San Diego’s Board of Library Commissioners, named one of San Diego’s Most Influential Women by The Daily Transcript and received the Deborah Baker Public Relations Professional of the Year Award from the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Prior to joining Southwest Strategies in 2000, Hansen was a staff writer for Arizona’s leading sports magazine and a photojournalist for San Diego Magazine.

Katz & Associates
Sara has developed a recognized specialty in creating communication programs for local, state and federal agencies. She has strategized and advised on strategic communication efforts for water resources, land use planning, transportation and mass transit, education and consumer protection programs. Her wealth of experience ranges from issues management, coalition building and facilitation to strategic planning, media strategy and crisis management.

For 30 years, Sara has supported public outreach and community involvement programs for major capital improvement projects and controversial public policy issues. She has provided strategic communications and counsel on the City of San Diego $2 billion Clean Water Program, San DiegoCounty Water Authority (SDCWA) $1.5 billion Capital Improvement Program (CIP)and Emergency Storage Program, Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)multi-year $2 billion CIP, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)$4.9 billion Water System Improvement Program and now their multi-billion-dollarSewer System Improvement Program. Sara and her team were instrumental in creating and launching the SFPUC’s Rain Ready stormwater program, including their very successful Adopt a Drain campaign which has received wide support from community members.  Sara was also the firms’ senior lead for the SFPUC’s recent Infrastructure InvestmentEducation Program, which resulted in successfully passing a multi-year rate increase.

Additional experience includes the City of LA’s One WaterProgram, City of San Diego’s $5B Pure Water Program, City of San Diego’s ThinkBlue Stormwater Awareness campaign and the City of Fresno Recharge Fresno Program. Sara’s experience with water and wastewater programs also includes project work in Sydney, Australia and Iraq.A frequent conference speaker and published writer, Sara is past chair of the American Water Works Association Public Involvement Committee. Sara Katz was honored in late 2013 with the Otto Bos Lifetime Achievement Award by the Public Relations Society of America San Diego. Sara also received the YWCA 2014 TWIN Visionary Award.

ColLAborate
‍Nicole Kuklok-Waldman advocates for businesses to ensure the best results for her clients. From regulatory challenges to development projects, Nicole specializes in a comprehensive advocacy approach and is known for integrating community outreach, communication with elected officials and community leaders, and honesty backed up by evidentiary support, to ensure a positive and desired result.

Prior to founding Collaborate, Nicole practiced Land Use Law at major law firms in Los Angeles. Her practice included management and entitlement of highly-visible and controversial development projects; plan approvals, modifications, and compliance with existing entitlements; strategic advice; managing teams of consultants on large scale land use projects; and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance and review. She was integral in the entitlement of a large project in BeverlyHills, including a five star hotel and luxury residential units, and has worked on a variety of projects including shopping centers, museums, hotels, visitor-serving uses, and residential projects. Several of her projects have survived CEQA challenge or referendum efforts. Nicole specializes in historic preservation and related issues and has also worked on numerous projects subject to the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission and successfully settled a Coastal Commission appeal against a Malibu shopping center. Nicole has worked on numerous regulatory approval processes required for different land uses across the region and is often brought in to work with neighbors to gain approval and/or settlement of difficult issues.

At Collaborate, Nicole has become best-known for establishing thoughtful and diverse community outreach programs and strategies for government and private entities. She has created detailed outreach programming working with community partners, diverse stakeholders, and harder-to-reach communities. Nicole is also an expert facilitator, using her skills to obtain important information about how ideas impact communities. Nicole’s strategy expertise extends beyond traditional lines to include community outreach, legal knowledge, detailed communication concepts, and traditional campaign methods.

Nicole graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from Georgetown University Law Center inWashington, DC. She is a lecturer at the University of Southern California, where she teaches Planning Law and Entitlement at the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Lusk Center for Real Estate, and has guest lectured at Temple University and UCLA School of Law. She is also a published author, having authored a guest chapter in “Public Relations in Practice” by Professor Kate Kurtin at California State University, Los Angeles. Nicole is a licensed real estate broker. She lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband, children, and rescue labs, Sal and Gidget.

Jessica Luternauer is an experienced public relations and public affairs professional with a strong track record of developing and implementing successful communications programs for a broad range of clients.

Luternauer has helped secure regulatory approvals for a number of controversial projects, including San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) completed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line and Protea Properties’ renovation of the Flower Hill Promenade shopping center in Del Mar. Both of these efforts received local and national awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

In her position as a Senior Vice President, Luternauer currently works with SDG&E, Cogentrix Energy, Westfield Corporation and other clients in the energy and retail industries. Her responsibilities include developing and overseeing the day-to-day implementation of strategic plans designed to achieve clients’ specific public affairs goals and objectives.

Luternauer specializes in crafting qualitative and quantitative research programs, as well as the development of messages, collateral materials and copy. She also manages Southwest Strategies’ in-house graphics department.

Prior to joining Southwest Strategies, Luternauer held positions in marketing and public relations. Her duties included administering email marketing campaigns and refreshing website content.

Luternauer is a member of Public Relations Society of America, the Lincoln Club of San Diego County and the Coronado Council of the Navy League. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with high honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a bachelor’s degree in English. Luternauer subsequently earned her M.A. in literature from the University of California, San Diego, where she taught writing and humanities at Revelle College.

A California native, Luternauer enjoys reading and spending time with her husband, friends and family.

ColLAborate
‍Katherine Hennigan Ohanesian is the co-founder of Collaborate. Since the firm’s launch in 2017, Kate has played an integral role in growing the government affairs and strategic communications firm into the thriving business it is today. Armed with an extensive background in public service at the City of Los Angeles, Kate is one of L.A.’s most trusted leaders when it comes to advocacy, policy analysis, public speaking, economic development, land use and strategic community outreach.

In her role as a communications strategist and government relations consultant, Kate has helped countless businesses overcome regulatory hurdles and achieve government approvals to move forward with their projects and initiatives. The relationships she has at Los Angeles City Hall are unparalleled, which allows her to quickly identify the people and institutions that can most efficiently and effectively obtain key objectives.

Kate served the City of Los Angeles for more than a dozen years in various capacities before she launched ColLAborate. Most recently, she was the Economic Development and Legislative Director for L.A.City Councilmember Paul Koretz. Kate advised and represented the Councilmember on such issues such as business retention, job creation, transportation policy and economic development. Her focus also included important legislative issues, including wage theft prevention and minimum wage increase proposals.

Prior to that, Kate served as a Senior PolicyDirector in the Office of Economic and Business Policy for former Los AngelesMayor Antonio Villaraigosa, where she was responsible for the Hollywood film and entertainment community.

A native Angeleno, Kate is passionate about giving back to the city she was born and raised in. She is the current Chair of the L.A. County Library Foundation and sits on the Boards of the Alliance of Women Philanthropists, the Center for the Study of Los Angeles (StudyLA) at Loyola Marymount University, 211 and is the former President of the Women Against Gun Violence advocacy group. Kate earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, and later received a Master’s Degree in International Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern California.

Katz & Associates
‍Greg Parks is a public affairs specialist who brings more than a decade of experience providing community relations services on transportation, energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects. He currently oversees multiple infrastructure improvement projects for K&A in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. His involvement on projects has included serving as a construction relations project manager, securing site access agreements, event planning, developing, and implementing communication and public affairs strategies, media relations, message training, and developing informational materials. To make sure public involvement requirements and benchmarks are being met, he routinely collaborates with engineers, planners and environmental consultants.

Prior to joining K&A, Greg worked at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where he staffed the Chamber’s Energy Committee and implemented energy-related public policy initiatives on behalf of the San Diego business community. Greg also advocated Chamber positions at the local government level, through Chamber publications and in interviews with print and television media. Prior to his work at the Chamber, Greg worked in the office of a United States Congressman where he handled energy and environmental issues and served as staff liaison to the House Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee. He has extensive experience at all levels of government with several local energy, infrastructure, water, and transportation projects.

Hope Reilly is a Senior Vice President at Southwest Strategies. In this role, she oversees the strategic planning and implementation of communications and public outreach campaigns for a number of water, land use and transportation projects, and spearheads social media strategy for the firm. Her work has been recognized with more than two dozen local, state and national awards for public relations, public affairs, and marketing communications.

Prior to joining Southwest Strategies, Reilly worked as a senior associate at Amplify Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. She began her career working for ABC News in Washington, D.C., where she co-authored ABC News’ The Note, the original morning news tipsheet, and reported on the 2008 presidential election. Reilly received her Bachelor of Arts in political communication from George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, with a minor in international politics and economics.

Southwest Strategies
Katie Roeder serves as Chief People Officer, overseeing the strategy, vision, and execution of the Human Resources and Administrative Departments for Southwest Strategies and its subsidiaries. Katie’s experience stems from her 12+ years in HR, holding roles across Fortune 500 to small and medium-sized businesses. Her work has taken her all over the world, including leading acquisition and integration efforts for the human resources function and placing her as a prominent thought partner and strategic leader for executive teams.

At Southwest Strategies, Katie is responsible for company culture and growth, overseeing integration efforts, and ensuring a seamless experience for employees and leaders. Under her umbrella, Katie and her team provide company-wide support in hiring, employee relations, employee engagement, professional development, office management and planning, and more.

Katie’s educational journey includes graduating from Washington State University, after which she returned to her native San Diego and immediately began her corporate career. She has further advanced her education by becoming a Society of Human Resources Management CertifiedProfessional (SHRM-CP), a Myers-Briggs Certified Practitioner, and prominently earning her MBA from the University of San Diego in 2021.

When she is not supporting Southwest Strategies and its businesses, Katie loves to enjoy the beautiful city she calls home. From attending Padres games and the farmer’s market with her husband to hiking with her beloved puppy, she enjoys being active and taking in all that the City has to offer.

Katz & Associates
Sarah Rossetto is a Vice President supporting water districts and public agencies on high-profile infrastructure communications nationally and throughout California. Sarah works on large-scale, multi-year water infrastructure programs and capital improvement projects that require robust community outreach. Sarah has successfully led program communications and outreach for approximately $2 billion in construction projects, and many additional projects through engineering, design and permitting phases. She also has extensive experience planning and implementing public involvement for National Environmental Policy Act and California Environmental Quality Act processes.

Sarah is involved in the American Water Works Association through the California-Nevada Section and the Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment, and she enjoys volunteering for Water For People in her free time.

Sarah holds her degree from San Diego State University, and prior to working at Katz & Associates, Sarah worked at global public relations firm Porter Novelli.

Malle Vaddi is Vice President of Finance at Southwest Strategies. In her role, Malle works closely with executive leadership to develop key financial modeling, reporting, analysis and metrics to effectively manage and grow the business. She is also focused on improving efficiencies and business strategy.

Malle brings with her more than 18 years of experience in accounting and finance and holds a bachelor of science in accounting. Prior to joining the firm, Malle held accounting positions in the technology, electronic tolling, distribution and hospitality industries. When not at work, Malle loves to spend time with her family, cook and meet up with friends.