Jennifer Palmieri & Carlos Curbelo's Biography

Jennifer Palmieri is a writer and one of the most accomplished communications advisors in politics today. Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Madam President and her newest book, She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s World, Jennifer was White House Communications Director for President Obama and head of Communications for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. She has been on the frontlines of American politics for 20 years and one of a few people with a hands-on, working knowledge of the complex media environment operating in the U.S. today.

Having served in the West Wing for 12 years under President Obama and President Clinton she has an unparalleled level of knowledge and experience in understanding how U.S. Presidents operate and there is no one working in politics today with more experience in managing crises. She has held the positions of White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Clinton, national press secretary for the Democratic Party and press secretary for the 2004 John Edwards presidential campaign. As someone who worked on the campaign of the first female Democratic nominee, and been a communications advisor to women in the national spotlight, she has a unique perspective on how media and voters treat women in powerful positions.

She is also a former guest host of Showtime’s The Circus and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair.

After losing her sister to early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2017, she has written and spoken about her family’s experience in an effort to aid other families facing the same disease.

Jennifer Palmieri & Carlos Curbelo's Biography

Not yet 40 years of age, Carlos Curbelo has had quite a number of interesting life experiences. He started a media and public relations firm fresh out of college and ran it successfully for over ten years. At the age of 29 he became senior staff for a U.S. Senator and a key advisor on Latin-American policy. Just a year later he was elected to the Miami-Dade County School Board and was part of a historic leadership team that took America’s fourth largest school district from bankruptcy to excellence. During his tenure on the board, Miami-Dade County Public Schools expanded choice, cut administrative costs, and gave teachers raises resulting in the District receiving the prestigious Broad Prize for Education.

In 2014, Carlos was elected to represent his community in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Education and Workforce Committee, the Small Business Committee, and the powerful Committee on Ways and Means where he co-authored the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 - comprehensive tax reform legislation that delivered historic tax relief, drove investment to challenged communities, and made American businesses more competitive. While in Congress Curbelo also led on climate policy, immigration reform, and gun safety. He co-founded and co-chaired the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, served in a leadership role in the Problem Solvers Caucus, and led the Brazil Caucus to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Latin-America's leading economy. In 2017, Curbelo was honored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation with the New Frontier Award for his work promoting bipartisan cooperation on environmental policy. In 2018 he filed the landmark Market Choice Act, ambitious legislation that would invest nearly a trillion dollars in American infrastructure while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by pricing carbon. Also in 2018, he led a discharge petition initiative that forced the U.S. House to debate and consider comprehensive immigration reform legislation - including a path to citizenship for Dreamers - for the first time in a decade. 

Curbelo has consistently advocated for decency, sobriety, and civility in politics, and more broadly, in American society. Just weeks before leaving Congress he made news for holding a press conference with a young man who threatened his life where he publicly forgave him and announced he would not press charges. He was ranked the fourth most bipartisan Member of the House where he represented South Florida until returning to the private sector in 2019.