KIARA PESANTE HAUGHTON

Named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by EBONY Magazine, Kiara Pesante Haughton is a progressive political strategist, public relations executive and justice advocate with over a decade of experience specializing in campaigning in the South, strategic communications, crisis management, public affairs and partnerships.

She is Senior Vice President in the Issue Advocacy practice at BerlinRosen, leading work at the intersection of racial justice, electoral politics and culture. She partners with campaigns, political organizations, and nonprofits to tell the stories of people and families to spark changes in the systems that hurt too many. For nearly three years, she led communications for Civil Rights Corps, an organization leading landmark anti-racist litigation and high-impact advocacy that empowers communities to change the unjust legal system. Before that, she served as Communications Director for the Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor, where she was one of the youngest senior staffers in the chamber’s Democratic leadership, and led the caucus’ messaging around the Working Families Agenda and the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Previously, she was the Southern Regional Press Secretary and National Director of African American Media for the Democratic National Committee, where she led the party’s media outreach and messaging in 11 states and in diverse communities across the nation, and advised more than 40 candidates and campaigns. Pesante Haughton has worked in local government, playing an integral role in the revitalization of D.C. taxicabs, the introduction of ridesharing to the city, and the expansion of public transportation options. She was on the battleground states press team for both the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions.

She has served in various roles at Edelman Public Relations, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and at WSB-TV in Atlanta. She was named the 2017 Young Woman of Achievement for Politics and Campaigns by the Women’s Information Network and was part of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University’s class of 2012.

Pesante Haughton earned her MPA from Howard University and her BA in Journalism from Auburn University. She lives in D.C. with her husband Malik and daughter Zora.