Nancy Pfotenhauer

Nancy Pfotenhauer currently is the president of MediaSpeak Strategies, a communications firm. Prior to launching her company, Ms. Pfotenhauer served as a Senior Policy Advisor and National Spokesperson with the McCain for President campaign, appearing almost daily on cable networks. She is the former President and C.E.O. of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), serving in that position from 2000-05. She was Vice Chairman of IWF's Board of Directors from 2005-07. Ms. Pfotenhauer joined IWF after leaving Koch Industries, the largest privately held company in the country with more than $80 billion in assets, where she was Director of the Washington, D.C. office. A veteran television and radio commentator, Ms. Pfotenhauer has an uncanny ability to reduce difficult public policy issues to lively, easily understood and memorable subjects of discourse for television, cable and radio audiences. As a daily morning talk show host for NET (carried on cable and television networks nationwide), she made the case for free market policy solutions to problems facing the country. Her television and cable appearances include segments on ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and PBS. In 2004, Washingtonian magazine named her one of the most important conservative leaders in the nation's capitol. In 1994, she appeared on the cover of National Journal, which referred to her as one of Washington's rising stars. Additionally, Ms. Pfotenhauer has been featured in Newsweek, George, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times. Ms. Pfotenhauer began her career in Washington, D.C. in 1987 as a senior economist at the Republican National Committee and was promoted to chief economist in 1988. Selected by the Bush transition team at age 24, she served as the economist for the independent regulatory agencies task force for then President-elect George H.W. Bush, overseeing the policy, budget and personnel recommendations for both the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission. Thereafter, she worked as economic counsel to Senator William Armstrong, a member of the Republican Leadership, serving on both the Finance and Budget Committees. In 1990, Ms. Pfotenhauer joined the President's Council on Competitiveness as the economist serving that elite regulatory review group. This appointment involved daily interaction with the highest level career and political personnel at the Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Treasury. In 2002, Ms. Pfotenhauer was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as a delegate to the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women and served during the 46th session of the Commission. The Bush Administration also appointed her to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women reporting to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of Health and Human Services Thompson. Additionally, she served on advisory committees reporting directly to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. In addition, Ms. Pfotenhauer served on the team charged with handling the budget for the Romney transition, and she was recently named to the Board of Directors at the CATO Institute. Ms. Pfotenhauer holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Georgia and a master of arts degree in economics from George Mason University. She sits on Mason's Board of Visitors.