How/where are you celebrating your birthday and with whom? “Taking the day off to relax, spend time with my three kids and then have dinner with the family. Later in the week, I invited some friends, colleagues and former colleagues to a small informal happy hour in NYC.”

How did you get your start in your career? “While attending the University of Maryland, I interned on Capitol Hill for then-U.S. Rep. (now Sen.) Ben Cardin. It was right after President Clinton’s impeachment, so I was on the Hill during an interesting time. Most notably (and perhaps prescient for some of the current debate on tariffs) Congress was debating normalizing trade relations with China while I was there. I saw firsthand the inner workings of government and knew I wanted to do more. I worked on a few campaigns and then served four years with Rep. Gary Ackerman and then another four in the Spitzer/Paterson administration. Since 2013, I’ve worked at Marino -- a full-service strategic communications firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston – where I am able to use my political background for the benefit of the firm and our wide array of clients.”

What’s an interesting book/article you’re reading now or finished? And why? After my wife and I recently watched ‘The Crown’ on Netflix, I dusted off my copy of ‘Churchill’ by Roy Jenkins. It’s a really thorough account of the trajectory of a man with really no equal in the study of modern European leadership. As for something a little lighter in content, I really enjoyed ‘The Last Temptation,’ Michael Gerson’s April cover story in The Atlantic about President Trump and evangelicals.”