R I S I N G S TA R S
Samantha Sexton, 28 Vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs at the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida Samantha Sexton doesn’t think of herself as a lobbyist. She considers herself an advocate — a storyteller. She thinks of herself as someone who can communicate to decision makers, to tell the stories of those people impacted by their actions. The 28-year-old Melbourne native has put that philosophy to work over the years. At the PACE Center for Girls, she advocated for girls in need of a helping hand. She learned the power of reaching across the aisle, working with Democrats and Republicans alike to help advance the organization’s mission. “She did a fabulous job for advocacy for a nonprofit that was serving a very, very worthy cause. Now, she’s into the cause of the insurance arena, and she’ll do a great job there,” said David Mica, the executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council. “As a younger millennial, she is no snowflake. She is the antithesis of a snowflake. She is a hard worker who gets into the trenches for her causes. And she is also very, very bright and astute in understanding the political nature of the Tallahassee bubble.” Sexton joined the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida in August. The issues and industry might have changed, but Sexton said the job hasn’t. She’s advocating for consumers, providing them “with the best opportunities and telling that story.”
For Kelsey Swithers, the political and legislative side of things came easy. The communications side? Well, that was a different beast. She didn’t know much about the state’s media markets, or about writing a press release and dealing with reporters. But that didn’t stop her from taking an internship in 2011 with Bascom Communications, one of the top communications and consulting firms in the state. It was worth the risk. Five years later, she’s a senior communications consultant at the Tallahassee firm. Swithers specializes in legislative and political communications, and has worked on a variety of issues in her role. She was among those who developed a strategy to advocate for affordable housing funds, and has been a key member of the Everglades Foundation’s communications team. And when it comes to the Legislature, Swithers serves as the firm’s policy coordinator, tracking proposed legislation from beginning to end. “There are some things you can teach young up-and-comers in this business, but in order to be successful and be able to grow and become your own person [you have to] have a skill set that sets you apart from others. In the arena political communications, you have to be prewired to understand how politics and government and policy works — and Kelsey is that way,” said Sarah Bascom, the firm’s president. Swithers credits Bascom and others at the firm for her success, saying she “had great teachers.” And as the firm’s intern coordinator, she’s now become one of those great teachers. “If I’m lucky, and I hope I am, I hope to be doing the same thing,” she said.
Kelsey Swithers, 27 Senior communications consultant at Bascom Communications
WINTER 2016 INFLUENCE | 119