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THE MISSION CONTROL TEAM
PARTNERS/PRINCIPALS
ED PEAVY • Founder/Managing Partner/Chief Strategist
Ed is the catalyst behind Mission Control’s winning formula of unique strategic recommendations and creative ad executions. His never-ending supply of smart, sound strategic advice and selfless contributions to every campaign’s goals are at the heart of why Mission Control has a long record of winning tough races when and where it counts
As a campaign operative, Ed served as Campaign Manager for Congressman Alan Wheat’s U.S. Senate race, Communications Director for Mark Singel for Governor and Deputy Finance Director for Harris Wofford’s heralded 1991 U.S. Senate upset victory in Pennsylvania. He was Senior Strategist and Managing Partner at Direct Response Mail before founding Mission Control in 2001.
Ed and his wife Becky have three kids, Bridgette, John and Annie, as well as a whole lot of animals.
ADNAAN MUSLIM • Partner/Creative Director/Accounts Director
After working as a political fundraiser at the congressional and municipal level, Adnaan joined up with Ed at Direct Response in 1999. Two years later Mission Control was formed and, through hard work and a willingness to share an office with the kitchenette, Adnaan became a Partner in 2002.
Since then, Adnaan has served as the company’s Accounts Director and now as the Creative Director, playing a vital role in both overall campaign strategy and the creative process.
With over a decade of experience advising candidates, Senators, Governors and Members of Congress across the country on the most efficient and effective way to reach voters through mail, Adnaan has a refined understanding of how powerful direct mail can be when done creatively and on message.
Despite respecting Adnaan’s uncanny ability to craft headlines with perfect cadence and his dedication to ensuring all clients receive sound, strategic advice tailored to their campaign, we are worried. Even while being ensconced between the hectic world of Mission Control and the equally chaotic state of raising two daughters, Sofia and Lily, with his wife, Gina, Adnaan has found time to remain a die-hard Jets, Mets and Knicks fan. Someone needs to remind him Namath retired, the Mets just suck and the Knicks won’t win until they learn how to play defense.
AMY PRITCHARD • Principal/Director of Washington, D.C. Office
Amy has done everything there is to do in Democratic politics, from serving as the Political Director of the DNC and a Regional Director for DCCC to working on the ground in campaigns all across the country. She was even a partner in another mail firm before joining Mission Control.
Amy is the founder and President of Democratic GAIN (www.DemocraticGAIN.org) and a founder and current board member of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC). One of the nation’s leading experts on initiatives and referenda and one of the most gifted strategists in the Party, Amy’s leadership in our DC office has been a huge reason for the success of our firm and of our clients.
MAREN HESLA • Principal
Maren is a battle-tested campaign veteran who came to Mission Control via EMILY’s List, where she headed up the independent expenditure operation. Maren is an expert at microtargeting and voter file modeling, a stellar campaign strategist and a gifted writer as well.
MIKE DORSEY • Director of Western U.S. Operations
Mike Dorsey is a career political professional who has worked for more than a decade electing Democrats across the country. Dorsey moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to serve as Deputy Campaign Manager for Senator Barbara Boxer’s victorious Democratic U.S. Senate race in 2010.
Before Boxer, Dorsey signed on in early 2007 to Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign, originally serving as Midwest Political Director and then moving on to be State Director in the Missouri Presidential Primary and State Director for Montana in the 2008 General Election.
Before joining the Obama Campaign Mike was the Coordinated Campaign Director for the Rhode Island Democratic Party during the 2006 election cycle that elected U. S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Mike also has an extensive background in political research. In 2004 he worked as the Deputy Research Director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, DC and as Research Director for the Chellie Pingree U.S. Senate campaign in Maine in 2002.
Mike is a graduate of the University of Kansas and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota.
ACCOUNT SERVICES
CHEYENNE SHAFFER • Senior Associate, Production Manager
cheyenne@missioncontrolinc.net
After an impressive career as a campaign fundraiser, Cheyenne Shaffer decided to get off the road and join Mission Control in January of 2007. Her strategic, creative and organizational skills help Mission Control crank hundreds of thousands of mail pieces across the country each year.
Prior to joining Mission Control, Cheyenne raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, and Kansas. In her last stint in fundraising she served as Finance Director for Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, where she set a Maryland Senate fundraising record raising nearly $8.5 million over the course of his winning campaign. After mastering the art of bringing in the cash for candidates, she's come to Connecticut to help them spend it.
Born and raised in Missouri, Cheyenne spends her free time volunteering for important causes in the U.S. and abroad. Following the 2008 election, Cheyenne spent six weeks in Tanzania working with people affected by HIV/AIDS. After the 2009 election, Cheyenne traveled to Nepal to volunteer at a shelter for abused girls. In 2010 she headed back to Africa, to Uganda this time, to work for a public health organization.
MATT ALBERT • Account Executive
Matt caught the political bug early while still in college...in Canada. He likes hockey and temperatures below zero. After working on numerous campaigns across New York and on Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign in Iowa, Matt joined the Mission Control team in 2008. Following a year at MC, he decided to leave the northeast to live in TX, which he enjoyed mostly for the BBQ and Mexican food. There he worked on Julian Castro's winning race for Mayor of San Antonio and other races around the state. In 2010 we decided to let him come back to join the MC team where he handles accounts, helps with targeting and keeps the rest of us sane...well, almost sane.
MARK BERGMAN • Senior Strategist
Mark Bergman joins Mission Control after nearly a decade of political work on the road. Mark worked as a campaign spokesman on Governor, Senate, Congressional and down-ballot races around the country, including serving as Communications Director for Rep. Paul Hodes and his U.S. Senate campaign in 2010. When Mark is not helping keep Adnaan sane with solid writing and providing strong strategic and press advice to our clients, he also has a budding amateur boxing career, or as Ed likes to say, the ability to get punched in the face by 18-year-olds.
PETER JONES • Senior Writer/Account Executive
After graduating from Allegheny College with a Bachelors in English, Peter joined Mission Control during the 2010 cycle, helping the company on all levels, from writing and account work to production. Peter then entered the world of campaign finance, working as a finance director for LA Harris and Associates, where he was stationed in Kansas City, Missouri. But Peter couldn’t stay away from Mission Control for too long and he rejoined our team in 2011, where he now helps produce creative and memorable ads as both a writer and account executive. Peter now spends his days writing, fiddling with Ed’s TV and doing impressions of Adnaan.
ADMINISTRATIVE
BERNADETTE HENNESSY • Director of Financial Operations
bernadette@missioncontrolinc.net
A Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and an experienced Accountant with 25 years of small business management experience, Bernadette handles all financial and personnel aspects of the firm's business, including accounts receivable and payable, payroll, keeping vendors in line and keeping the electricity on. If your bills are paid on time, you’ll never see her Doberman but if they aren't, we can’t make any promises.
Bernadette and her husband have three kids, Colleen, Briana and Ross, and a very big garden.
JOANNE SABINO • Administrative Assistant
Joanne Sabino is a lifelong Connecticut resident who joined Mission Control last May. Since then, she keeps the trains running on schedule, tracks the mail, makes sure everyone’s insane travel schedule actually happens and most importantly keeps the kitchen fully stocked with plenty of coffee for our over-caffeinated culture here. Joanne raised two children in Connecticut and is about to become a grandmother again.
CREATIVE
MICHAEL MELLUZZO • Senior Art Director
Michael's art direction has been one of the primary reasons for the success of our firm since it was first founded. Formerly an Art Director at the prestigious Connecticut firm O'Neal and Prelle and Maher/Hartford, Inc., he embodies our philosophy of taking cues from corporate advertising. He created national and local ad campaigns for clients ranging from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Toyota, from Duracell to the Connecticut Lottery. And while with Mission Control, he's been a huge factor in many winning campaigns as well.
DAVE LANDRY • Art Director
When Dave joined Mission Control in 2006, he brought 11 years of design and technical experience and a hands-on attitude that has made him an invaluable part of what we do. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art's Graphic Design program, he has worked on both coasts for a broad range of clients art directing and producing marketing and advertising for both print and Web.