Hannah Edwards
Chief of Staff across media, government & nonprofit
Duke's Fuqua School of Business
Global Refuge
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About
Hannah’s Chief of Staff Qualifications
Experience level: Executive
Hannah has helped clients get into these companies:
Over the better part of a decade, I've done nearly every kind of work that falls under the Chief of Staff umbrella — across media, government, and the nonprofit sector. At the White House, I managed executive logistics and high-stakes international engagements for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. At DHS, I led appointee hiring and management across the Department — including FEMA, TSA, and other components — before being promoted to Chief of Staff for the Office of Policy. In media, I served as Chief of Staff for Politico Live and later as Executive Director of Operations at Protocol. I now serve as Chief of Staff at a national nonprofit. Across all of it, the throughline has been the same: getting handed an ambiguous, high-stakes mandate — do X by Y date, with Z resources, no playbook — and being trusted to build the plan and execute it. That range is exactly what makes me useful as a coach. Most Chief of Staff advice comes from people who've only seen the role in one context. I've operated inside newsrooms, federal agencies, and mission-driven organizations, which means I can help you separate what's universal about the job (earning trust with a principal, operating across a whole org without a functional lane, translating ambiguity into a plan) from what's specific to any one industry. Whether you're trying to land your first Chief of Staff role or you're already in the seat and want to expand your scope and grow your influence, I'd love to help — bringing the same practical, get-it-done approach to coaching that I bring to the job itself.
Hannah can help with:
Executive Support
Interview Prep
Networking Strategy
Promotion Strategy
Resume Review
Strategic Planning
Work Experience
Chief of Staff
Global Refuge
October 2025 - Present
Hiring Manager
Serve as Board Liaison to 18-member board, managing all governance coordination, materials, and communications across 3 annual full board meetings and 4 standing committees; created annualized planning process to systematize board engagement Oversee President's Office and Advocacy team, ensuring operational continuity and team effectiveness Lead organizational infrastructure build-out, establishing knowledge management systems, operational processes, and continuity protocols across the organization Manage organization-wide KPI tracking and reporting, providing leadership with visibility into annual performance
Principal
Hannah Edwards Consulting
May 2025 - October 2025
2020 and 2025 POLITICO EU: Served as interim Operations Deputy for POLITICO Live, providing senior operational support and driving 2026 strategic planning during a leadership transition Semafor: Managed CEO scheduling and engagement for the World Economy Summit, DC's premier global economic forum, coordinating across editorial and stakeholder teams for seamless executive participation Democratic National Convention: Managed execution of the widely praised Roll Call — the first-ever remote presentation of all 57 states and territories casting presidential votes — coordinating across campaign, convention, delegation, and speechwriting teams Presidential Inaugural Committee: Managed credentialing and operations for the 59th Presidential Inauguration — coordinating with the U.S. Secret Service and navigating an unprecedented combination of pandemic restrictions, heightened security, and a compressed timeline 19th News: Produced event series for the startup media outlet featuring high-profile guests and established standard operating procedures for future executions
Chief of Staff, Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans
Department of Homeland Security
May 2024 - January 2025
Hiring Manager
Recruited by senior DHS leadership to serve as Chief of Staff for the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, overseeing operations, people management, and budget prioritization for a 250+ person, $100M+ office Resolved a department-wide bottleneck in DHS's policy review and sign-off process — restructuring the Executive Secretariat team through strategic hiring and role realignment, turning a source of frustration across DHS components into a smoothly functioning operation within months Implemented a new digital system for policy document workflow, replacing an email-only process and significantly improving visibility and accountability across the office Served as senior advisor to the Senate-confirmed Under Secretary, managing stakeholder engagement, surfacing priorities, and ensuring leadership time and attention were focused on the highest-impact decisions
White House Liaison
Department of Homeland Security
August 2022 - May 2024
Hiring Manager
Served as primary liaison between DHS and the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, negotiating personnel decisions, advocating DHS priorities, and advising DHS' most senior leaders (Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and agency leadership across TSA, FEMA, and others), translating priorities in both directions Built appointee management infrastructure from scratch, including a comprehensive database tracking the full lifecycle of all 200+ DHS political appointees — from onboarding through compensation, programming, and offboarding
Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the US Trade Representative
The White House
March 2021 - August 2022
Hiring Manager
Served as first-ever Director of Scheduling and Advance for U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, building the function from scratch during a uniquely complex post-Covid reopening period Planned and executed 15+ international trips across foreign governments and 20+ domestic engagements, negotiating directly with embassies and foreign delegations on logistics, access, and meeting objectives Created organization-wide process to strategically manage the Ambassador's time and visibility across a 200+ person agency within the Executive Office of the President, aligning both political appointees and career staff around principal prioritization
Chief of Staff
Politico
December 2014 - May 2020
Executive Director of Operations, Protocol 2020 Served as founding operations leader for Protocol, a standalone media launch, building the Customer Success function and partnering with launch partners including Slack, Nasdaq, and Facebook to execute strategic deals ahead of launch. Head of Planning and Operations, POLITICO 2020 2019 Led planning and execution for marquee POLITICO events, including White House Correspondents' Dinner weekend and external activations for the POLITICO-hosted Democratic primary debate — high-visibility convenings for elite media, political, and policy audiences. Orchestrated a first-time partnership with CBS for WHCD weekend, coordinating across departments to deliver a premier four-day program for 1,000+ high-level guests. Chief of Staff / Director of Operations, POLITICO Live 2017 – 2019 Owned event strategy and execution for POLITICO's live-events business — designing and scaling a portfolio of 25+ annual convenings — while hitting 144% of departmental cost-saving goals through vendor and partner negotiation and strategic hiring. Developed and implemented a comprehensive HR overhaul across a 12-person team — new hiring, onboarding, and performance review processes — driving a company-high 7% increase in employee engagement. Manager, POLITICO Live 2014 – 2016 Managed Fortune 50 client partnerships (Microsoft, Walmart, CVS Health, FedEx) and $2M+ in annual event budgets, producing 25+ convenings a year with the newsroom, sales, and external partners. Led POLITICO's full-week presence at the 2016 Democratic National Convention (30+ events, 3,000+ attendees) and a $595K Microsoft partnership spanning both political conventions — owning strategy, execution, and white-glove client experience.
Education
Duke's Fuqua School of Business
Master of Business Administration - MBA
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bachelor, Political Science, History
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Hannah has helped clients get into these companies: