O’Neill and Associates Further Expands State House Lobbying Services with Associate Director Samantha Schenk

Today, O’Neill and Associates announced the addition of Samantha Schenk, who has joined the team as an associate director to strengthen the firm’s State House lobbying practice. Samantha comes to the firm from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she most recently utilized social media and press outreach to advance legislation on tourism, arts and cultural development in the Commonwealth.

Prior to joining O’Neill and Associates, Samantha served as the research director for the Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development. There, she coordinated committee legislation, public hearings, social media and outreach. Samantha helped develop the Chairwoman’s amendments to the fiscal year budget, resulting in $12 million increase in accounts for fiscal year 2014, and wrote the proposal to the Massachusetts’ P3 Commission, which established a public-private partnership for the operation of state highway visitor information centers.

“We are thrilled to have Samantha join the O’Neill and Associates team,” stated Thomas P. O’Neill III, Chief Executive Officer of O’Neill and Associates. “At the State House, Samantha combined her analytical skills with her communications capabilities to successfully advance policy objectives using both traditional and new media. Her skillset and experience will be an asset to our firm.”

Previously, Samantha worked as a legislative aide to State Representative Cory Atkins, where she wrote legislation, constituent communication, policy briefs, and legislative testimony. She analyzed legislation and budget items in addition to managing the Representative’s online presence, including Twitter and Facebook accounts.  Before assuming her role as a legislative aide, Samantha held an internship with Representative Atkins, where she attended and summarized legislative briefings for staff and researched and created a report on state funded halfway houses.

Samantha received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English from Simmons College, where she served as the president of the Student Government Association and was the recipient of the Presidential Leadership Award. She is grew up in Windham, NH and attended Salem High School in Salem, NH. She currently resides in Brookline, Massachusetts.

About O’Neill and Associates

O’Neill and Associates is led by former Lt. Governor Thomas P. O’Neill III and offers a breadth of services, combining government relations and communications to develop a comprehensive action plan specifically tailored to address each client’s needs. The firm employs senior level professionals to help clients define the right messages and get those messages to target audiences, including government officials, the media, community leaders and consumers. With offices in Boston, MA and Washington, DC, O’Neill and Associates serves clients in diverse industries, including financial services, transportation, health care, nonprofits, energy, hospitality and real estate development. To learn more about O’Neill and Associates, visit www.oneillandassoc.com.