Serena Carlson founded Carlson Strategic Communications in 2010 to assist companies and organizations with their media, communications and public outreach needs. A former reporter, communications director and public information officer for state agencies and private industry associations, Serena has directed the structure and implementation of marketing programs, communications and public outreach activities designed to accomplish a wide variety of objectives. Serena provides advice and counsel on government affairs, public outreach, communication issues (including strategic communications and crisis communications plans) and political campaigns. Serena has acted as a spokesperson and a source to local and national media on many political and natural resource-related issues. She has also worked closely with state and federal agencies on coordinating messaging to shared public audiences. Serena holds a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Political Science from Gonzaga University.
About
David “Chris” Carlson brings a lifetime of experience in business, journalism and politics as an Of-Counsel to Carlson Strategic Communications. A former press secretary to Idaho Governor Cecil D. Andrus, Chris directed the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Public Affairs during the governor’s four-year term as Secretary of the Interior under President Jimmy Carter. Chris was appointed to the Northwest Power Planning Council by Idaho Governor John V. Evans, and served as regional vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Aluminum in Spokane. Chris worked as political and education editor for the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello before moving to the Spokane Chronicle. He later served as a reporter for an independent news bureau in Washington, D.C. Chris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University, and a Master of Arts degree from Idaho State University. Chris is the founder of The Gallatin Group, and currently serves as an Of-Counsel, available on an as-needed basis to Carlson Strategic Communications.
He has recently written a book about his time with Gov. Andrus (Cecil Andrus: Idaho’s Greatest Governor), and another book of essays on Idaho politics past and present (Medimont Reflections). Please find Cecil Andrus: Idaho’s Greatest Governor on Amazon.com. Medimont Reflections is available, along with Carlson’s weekly newspaper column, through Ridenbaugh Press Northwest by clicking here. He has authored Eye on the Caribou, a book about passage of the Alaska lands legislation, published by Ridenbaugh Press; his latest project Hell’s Heroes, the story of the saving of Hells Canyon from dams, will be out in the spring of 2018 and published by Caxton.
Chris passed away on August 25th, 2018, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. He left Idaho a better place, and his presence will be missed.