Invariant LLC, previously called Heather Podesta + Partners,[1] is an American lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C.
Heather Podesta founded Heather Podesta + Partners in 2007.[1:1]
On March 29, 2017, the firm announced it had changed its name to Invariant.[1:2]
In October 2024, Invariant warned its clients about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s increasing influence over then-candidate President Donald Trump and the Republican Party on issues of food safety and quality in America.[2]
Invariant's personnel are listed on its website.[3]
Name | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|
Heather Podesta | Founder and Chief Executive Officer[4] | Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS), Ford's Theatre Society, Washington DC Police Foundation |
Steve Black | Chief Financial Officer | Group SJR, Kinetic Worldwide, WPP |
Erin Gentry | Chief Operating Officer | Group SJR, Hill+Knowlton Strategies |
Laura Joshua | Chief Administrative Officer | Blank Rome Government Relations, Boeing |
Caroline Swann | Chief People Officer | United States Chamber of Commerce, Republican National Committee (RNC), International Trade Administration (ITA), United States Department of Commerce, White House Office, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) |
Eric Rosen | Executive Vice President | Joe Biden, Herbalife Nutrition, United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, Anthony Weiner, United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Chet Atkins |
Paul Arcangeli | Principal | United States Army, United States Department of Defense (DOD), United States House Committee on Armed Services |
Amanda Bailey | Political Strategist | Black Economic Alliance, Harris for President, Nancy Pelosi, Karen Bass, Raymond McGuire, Mike Bloomberg 2020 |
Madison Baker | Senior Associate | Jon Ossoff |
Emma Baldino | Senior Associate | - |
Ken Barbic | Principal, Food and Agriculture Practice Group | United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farmer's Business Network, Western Growers Association, Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), United States House Committee on Ways and Means |
Rebecca Baskin | Senior Director, Strategic and Crisis Communications | Crowell & Moring, Amy Berman Jackson |
Alexis Bass | Senior Associate | Choose DuPage |
Danielle Beck | Senior Director of Government Affairs | National Cattlemen's Beef Association |
Kate Bennett | Senior Advisor | CNN, Independent Journal Review (IJR), Politico, Washingtonian |
Kelsey Beymer | Senior Manager | Fox News Digital, Export-Import Bank of the United States |
Janie Blanco | Director of Client Services and Business Operations | Mike Enzi, Bernie Sanders, Marco Rubio |
Sally Blodgett | Strategic Communications and Public Affairs Associate | Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work |
Whit Blount | Associate | International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), BGR Group, Thorn Run Partners |
Madeline Buschang | Strategic Communications and Public Affairs Manager | Crossroads Campaign Solutions, American University |
Joe Bushong | Senior Director | Dick Durbin, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Human Rights Watch, Mike Quigley |
Claude Chafin | Principal | United States House Committee on Armed Services, Marsha Blackburn, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs |
Rebecca Christopher | Director of Digital Media | Biden for President, Mike Bloomberg 2020, Purbose, Obama for America |
Lane Coberly | Manager | American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture |
Carolyn Coda | Senior Vice President and Co-Chair of Economy Policy Practice | Swiss Re, United States Department of the Treasury |
Zach Cooper | Senior Manager, Finance and Tax | Maxine Waters, Miami Office of the City Attorney |
Matthew Cox | Strategic Communications Associate | Colin Allred, HealthHIV, The Hill |
Annie D'Amato | Senior Director | Beyond Pesticides, Millennial Action Project, United States Senate |
Elyse Davidson | Senior Associate, Human Resources | Charles Taylor |
Sophia Daoud | Senior Associate | Michael Franken, Karen Bass, New American Leaders, Tucker Green Consulting, Breakthrough New York, Dynamic SRG, Mothership Strategies, Connecticut Police Reform Project |
Emma Derr | Communications Manager | Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Teach For America |
Kevin Diestelow | Senior Food Policy Associate | James Blair Historical Review, College of William & Mary |
Alex Edwards | Senior Associate | Nancy Pelosi, Glen Echo Group, Friends of Intelligent Democracy, Sentinel Strategic Advisors |
Quincy Enoch | Co-Chair, Financial Services Practice Group | National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) |
Maia Hunt | Senior Vice President | Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser |
Matthew Fery | Principal | Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), Sirona Strategies |
Kai Fox | Graphic Designer | Penta Group, Mothership Strategies |
Matthew Gallagher | Head of D.C. Communications and Public Affairs | Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), APCO Worldwide, Cerrell Associates, City of Los Angeles |
Melanie Giedlin | Executive Assistant to the CEO | TEGNA |
Chris Gillott | Principal | Bill Cassidy, Bobby Jindal, Kay Bailey Hutchison |
Natalie Giordano | Director of Communications | Purple Strategies, Weber Shandwick |
Shari Yost Gold | Senior Advisor | Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Cablevision, Kamala Harris for the People, Yost Gold Consulting |
Drew Griffin | Principal | Bob Latta, Erik Paulsen, Jaime Herrera Beutler |
Alaya Hardy | Senior Associate | Teach For America (TFA), Raben, Values Partnerships |
Julie Harrington | Communications Manager | Athenahealth |
Melanie Harris | Senior Director | Amazon Web Services (AWS), United States House Committee on Armed Services |
Jordan Harzynski | Senior Associate | CRAFT Media/Digital, GMU for Biden-Harris |
Jessica Hatcher | Director | Jake Auchincloss, Pramila Jayapal, Shafik Gabr Foundation, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Glover Park Group, Democracy for America (DFA) |
Stephanie Heise | Principal | Brunswick Group, Skadden, Debevoise & Plimpton |
Kelly Hitchcock | Director | Jerry Lewis, Hal Rogers, Rodney Frelinghuysen |
Logan Hollers | Principal | Jeff Merkley, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Environmental Working Group, Bloomberg BNA, Sierra Club DC Chapter, Cleantech Law Partners, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Lewis & Clark Law School |
Myana Marlyn Johnson | Government Relations Associate | Black Girl Magic Network (NGM), Work of Heart Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation |
Lucy Karlin | Communications and Public Affairs Associate | Cory Booker, FleishmanHillard, Hillary for America |
Tom Keefe | Senior Director of Operations | The Campaign Workshop (TCW), Gary Peters, Roy Cooper for North Carolina, Montgomery County Public Schools, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), United States Access Board |
Kristine Coratti Kelly | Senior Vice President and Head of New York Office | CNN, Washington Post, Washington Post Live, SHHHOWERCAP, NLX |
Ben Klein | Senior Vice President | Byron Dorgan, American Cancer Society (ACS), Palantir Technologies, American Heart Association (AHA) |
Charles Ladd | Manager | Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Mike Crapo, Steve Scalise, India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) |
Susan Lagana | Vice President | Brunswick Group, Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), United States Department of Transportation, United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Sidley Austin, Obama for America |
Berkley Lane | Manager | Corn Refiners Association (CRA), U.S. Green Building Council, Bond Dealers of America (BDA), Goldfinch Winslow |
Sam Love | Vice President | Cory Gardner, Cooley Zagar-Brown |
Lucas Lovekin | Associate | Campbell Soup Company, Philabundance, Pat Toomey, Hiltzik Strategies, Chester County Chamber of Commerce & Industry |
Megan Lown | Director of Human Resources | Edgeworth Economics, Buckley Sandler |
Anne MacMillan | Principal | United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Cardoza, Wonderful Company |
Loren Dealy Mahler | Senior Director | United States National Security Council (NSC), United States Department of Defense (DOD), Cyber Security Summit, National Security Institute (NSI), Truman National Security Project |
Noah Marine | Principal | Travelers Insurance, Ed Perlmutter |
Timothy Martin | Vice President | Rodney Davis, Scott Tipton, WilmerHale |
Monica Matoush | Senior Director of Government Relations | Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Office of the Secretary of Defense, United States House Committee on Armed Services, United States Air Force (USAF) |
Reilly McBride | Senior Manager (former) | Dezenhall Resources, Ketchum, United States Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies |
Mae McGrath | Senior Associate | Patrick Maloney, Jerry Nadler |
Annabell McWherter | Principal | United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs |
Adin Mengel | Manager | Siff & Associates |
Marcus Davis-Mercer | Associate | Steve Cohen, The Herald Group, nexAir |
Kyla Summer Miller | Senior Associate | Carolyn Bourdeaux |
Jonny Montano | Manager | History News Network (HNN), Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource) |
Paul Nemetz | Chief of Staff | Josh Gottheimer, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), DSPolitical, Frank Pallone |
James O'Brien | Director | Mitch McConnell, Kevin Brady, United States House Committee on Ways and Means |
Damian Ortega | Senior Associate | Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Pacific Council on International Policy, Gavin for Governor |
Ashley O'Sullivan | Senior Director | AmerisourceBergen, Roberti Global |
Lily Patricof | Senior Manager | Mike Bloomberg 2020, The Next 50, Threshold Group, C Street Advisory Group, ICM Partners, BuzzFeed, Hillary for America |
Emma Perron | Senior Manager | Office of Management and Budget (OMB), General Services Administration (GSA) |
Caroline Ponseti | Communications Strategist | American Gaming Association, The Herald Group |
Jessica Powell | Director | Steve Womack, Republican Party of Arkansas |
Elizabeth Racke | Communications Manager | Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), DDC Public Affairs, Covington & Burling, Kroll, Squire Patton Boggs, Glover Park Group, National Multiple Sclerosis Society |
Joel Richard | Vice President | Ted Deutch, Mayer Brown |
Perlyn Richards | Operations Manager | JW Marriott, Marriott International, Oracle |
Kenny Roberts | Principal | American Petroleum Institute (API), Jay Rockefeller, Noble Royalties, American Leadership Academy, Hillary for America, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) |
Alice Roosevelt | National Security Practice Group Associate | United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Kirsten Gillibrand, HopeLine, American Red Cross |
Ellen Satterwhite | Senior Director | Patreon, Glen Echo Group, Gig.U, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) |
Lindley Kratovil Sherer | Co-Chair, Government Relations Practice | Elise Stefanik, United States Department of the Treasury, Office of the Vice President of the United States |
Jenness Simler | Chair, National Security Practice | Boeing, United States House Committee on Armed Services, Combating Terrorism Technology Task Force (CTTTF), Office of Naval Research, Composites Manufacturing Technology Center (CMTC) |
Dena Baron Smith | Principal | United States House Committee on Appropriations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |
Evan Smith | Senior Health Care Policy Associate | Fragomen, Elaine Luria |
Joey Smith | Principal | United States Department of the Treasury, Romney for President, Republican National Committee (RNC), United States Department of the Interior, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Financial Services Roundtable |
Jared Soncrant | Senior Manager | Steve Scalise, Mike Enzi, Cory Gardner |
Mary Beth Stanton | Principal | United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, Herb Kohl, Anthony Weiner, Les Aspin Center for Government, Graduate School of Political Management, Dentons, N Street Village, Marquette University |
Landon Stropko | Chair, Energy and Environment Practice | Mike Enzi, Congressional Western Caucus, Cynthia Lummis |
Amy Swonger | Principal | Mitch McConnell, Trent Lott, White House Office of Legislative Affairs, Mercury Group, Office of the Vice President of the United States, Ernst & Young (EY), J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board |
Adam Tarr | Principal | United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, USDA Office of Food Safety (OFS), Food Safety and Inspection Service, Arlen Specter |
Jordan Thomas | Health Care Policy Associate | - |
Betsy Thompson | Senior Manager, National Security Practice | Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, John Garamendi, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Open Campaign |
Monica Trauzzi | Senior Director of Climate and Sustainability | Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), E&E News |
Nicole Venable | Senior Vice President | Bockorny Group, United States Chamber of Commerce, William Jefferson, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Chuck Robb, Black Girl Magic Network (BGM), Washington International Trade Association (WITA), Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Spelman College, The Links, Incorporated, Democratic National Committee (DNC), WinWithBlackWomen (WWBW), Economic Club of Washington, D.C., John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, Emerge |
Morgan Viña | Principal | Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), United States Department of Defense (DOD), Bob Corker, Seton Hall University, National Security Institute (NSI), Ourco, Nikki Haley for President, Deloitte, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, United States Mission to the United Nations, United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Heritage Foundation |
Christian Von Rotz | Government Relations Associate | Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies (APAICS), Bobby Scott, National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC), Peace Corps, North Carolina Democratic Party, Democratic Party of Georgia, Democratic Party of Virginia, Scott Surovell, Delta Phi Epsilon |
Marcus Weisgerber | Senior Director | Defense One, Defense News, Inside Defense, Pentagon Press Association, Newsday Media Group, Foster's Daily Democrat |
Peter Wells | Senior Associate | Swanee Hunt Alternatives, Greater Washington Conference on International Affairs, New Democratic Network (NDN) |
Jenny Werwa | Principal | Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), National Association of Realtors, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Assocation (NRMLA), American Immigration Lawyers Association, Jackie Speier, Physicians for Social Responsibility (FSR), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) |
Stephen Weyler | Director | Network for Public Health Law, Public Health Law Clinic, Franklin & Prokopik, Drinker Biddle & Reath |
Max Whitcomb | Senior Manager | Carolyn Maloney, Silverberg & Associates |
Katie Wise | Senior Vice President and Chair, Health Care Practice Group | Vern Buchanan, Mike Fitzpatrick, Mary Fallin, Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) |
Vontia Witherspoon | Operations Manager | Marriott International |
Nathan Yañez | Manager of Public Affairs and Strategic Communications | Lucas Public Affairs, Jared Huffman, People's Vanguard of Davis |
Invariant's current and former clients include:[1:3][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
Weiss, A. (2017, March 29). Heather Podesta + Partners Changes Name to Invariant. Politico; Invariant. https://web.archive.org/web/20180720225404/https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015b-19a4-d8ae-addf-99b545e40001 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Fang, L. (2024, November 22). Food Lobbyists Plot to Have It Their Way With RFK Jr. RealClearInvestigations. https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2024/11/20/food_lobbyists_plot_to_have_it_their_way_with_rfk_jr_1073264.html ↩︎
People. Invariant. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.invariantgr.com/people.html ↩︎
Heather Podesta. Invariant. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241122002841/https://www.invariantgr.com/team/heatherpodesta.html ↩︎
Government Relations. Invariant. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241121211836/https://www.invariantgr.com/government-relations.html ↩︎
What We Do. Invariant. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20180420161338/http://www.invariantgr.com/whatWeDo.html ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2007. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2007&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2008. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2008&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2009. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2009&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2010. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2010&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2011. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2011&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2012. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2012&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2013. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2013&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2014. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2014&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2015. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2015&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Heather Podesta & Partners Lobbying Profile - 2016. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2016&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2017. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2017&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2018. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2018&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2019. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2019&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2020. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2020&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2021. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2021&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2022. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2022&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2023. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2023&id=d000034396 ↩︎
Invariant LLC Lobbying Profile - 2024. OpenSecrets. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2024&id=d000034396 ↩︎