Our Team
ABIGAIL GARDNER, PRINCIPAL
Serving clients locally and nationally, she assists advocacy organizations, nonprofits, foundations, and corporate clients’ communications. Abigail assists with media relations, strategic communications planning, message development, and more.
Abigail previously worked at the award-winning public affairs firm SKDKnickerbocker in its Washington, D.C. office. As a vice president at SKDKnickerbocker, Abigail worked with issue-advocacy organizations, trade associations, high-profile individuals, and corporate and political clients until 2015 when she moved home to Pittsburgh and opened Scottie Public Affairs.
Abigail began her career as an intern on the Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign and since has worked on numerous elections. Between campaigns, Abigail also worked in the communications office of the governor of New York from and as the communications director for a member of congress.
JESSICA O’KEEFE, DIRECTOR
Jessica O’Keefe is a director with the Scottie Public Affairs team. Jessica first joined the firm in March 2021 as a senior associate, assisting clients with content development, social media management, event preparation and execution, and other communications needs. Now as a director, assesses client needs, develops work plans, and delivers exceptional work products to help clients meet their communications goals.
Before joining Scottie, Jessica kept busy as a freelance writer and volunteer for local politicians, so lending her seven years of expertise in communications and customer support to work for a woman-owned business was a no-brainer.
Jessica was born and raised 20 minutes south of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Westminster College in 2012 with a degree in Public Relations and moved back to her hometown to start her career. Her first few years were spent working for an environmental nonprofit, helping to promote energy conservation and building out customer assistance programs.
PARTNERS
We work with many trusted partners in fundraising, government relations and lobbying, video production, photography, direct mail, advertising, legal services, and more, allowing us to design plans and create teams to execute across a wide variety of client needs.