Tag: 2024

Colonel Devine currently serves as the Director for Defense Press Operations for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), serving as a senior military communication strategist and spokesperson for the Department of Defense.  He directs the daily coordination and release of all external communication for Department of Defense and support to national security press assigned to the Pentagon. 

 A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Colonel Devine joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1989 and later graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1996, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics.

Since 1997, Chris has served the Marine Corps as a Public Affairs Officer—spanning a wide gambit of national security and defense-related professional public relations, crisis communication, and strategic engagement assignments in the U.S. and overseas.  Over the course of over three decades of military service, he has held a variety of key organizational leadership roles directing and coaching diverse groups of professional communicators, military strategists, marketing/advertising creatives, journalists, and visual storytellers—all driving towards connecting national and international publics to the men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of Defense.

Colonel Devine holds Master’s Degrees in Public Administration & Organizational Management from the Pennsylvania State University, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Marine Corps War College in National Security Strategy. Additionally, Chris completed an Executive Certification in Strategic Marketing Management from Harvard Business School (Boston, MA

Gillian Brassil is the congressional reporter for McClatchy’s California publications. She covers federal policies, people and issues that impact the Golden State from Capitol Hill. She graduated from Stanford University. She is excited to speak at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference!

Sami works in operations and PR as The Hill’s Newsroom Administrator, where she plays a role in bolstering their non-partisan journalism and the people who make it happen. In working both behind-the-scenes and as a brand ambassador for the outlet, her responsibilities encompass strategic communications, streamlining newsroom workflows, and managing external outreach, including coordinating media bookings on local and national scales. She also contributes to fulfilling circulation requests for the weekly print editions, primarily centered in Washington, D.C., and collaborates with The Hill’s events team to facilitate discussions on diverse policy topics with influential figures in the political arena.

Sami is from California and received her BA from George Mason University, where she served as the student-led paper’s Co-Editor-In-Chief before graduating. She credits her passion for all-things news and emerging media trends to WJMC, where she attended as a correspondent in 2017, an intern in 2018 and a JFA in 2019. 

Eli Wohlenhaus has been with APG Media of Chesapeake since 2018, serving in several different roles managing award-winning magazines, eight websites and more than two dozen social media channels. Eli has also been working for the Washington Capitals since 2016, and also worked several years for the Washington Wizards, Commanders and Nationals. He graduated from Missouri State University in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.

Jada McClure is a passionate marketing professional with a knack for government communications and omni-channel marketing. Known for her creativity and strategic thinking, she has a proven track record of producing award-winning documentary-style content for FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and managing digital paid media campaigns across the United States.Throughout her career, she has worked with esteemed organizations such as ICF Next, Yes& Agency, and Sage Communications. Each role has honed her ability to navigate complex projects, develop innovative strategies, and deliver impactful results. Currently, she is making strides at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where she combines her communication skills and marketing prowess to further CISA’s mission and support vital government initiatives.Originally from North Carolina, Jada is a proud alum of the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (WJMC). Her journey began at WJMC in 2014 and continued at George Mason University, where she graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, specializing in Public Relations. She is excited to come back to where it all began as a speaker at this year’s conference.