Elena Waskey is the senior director of communications and marketing at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Prior to joining Equitable Growth, she served as an account director at Crosscut Strategies, a strategic communications firm, where she advised nonprofits and startups on how to grow their brand and increase their influence. Before that, Waskey led the communications team at the National Governors Association, the bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors. While there, she helped craft messages across a variety of public policy issues important to states, and grew the organization’s media coverage and digital presence exponentially, effectively managing its reputation inside and outside the Beltway.

Waskey was a founding editor of USA Today’s premium publications department, and she edited and researched for USA Weekend magazine, which had a circulation of 25 million. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master’s degree in strategic communication from American University.