Richard Greenberg
Chief Strategist and Organizer
Rick draws upon his broad experience in policy reform – from his early years as a policy analyst to his work as a director of strategic communications to his success directing social policy reform campaigns. However, it was his time as a foundation president, running The Fund for New Jersey, that helped him to fully realize his vision for data-driven digital storytelling. Rick’s work at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice has won national recognition. As the Institute’s Director of Equal Justice Policy & Programs and Director of Strategic Communications, Rick successfully led the Second Chance Campaign to change New Jersey’s prisoner reentry laws. Through that work, he came to be known as one of the nation’s foremost authorities on and advocates for systemic criminal justice reform. The New York Times called the Second Chance Campaign’s legislative package, “a model for the rest of the nation.” While at the Institute, Rick produced an award-winning documentary video on gangs and prisoner reentry, “Moral Panic,” featuring then-Mayor Cory Booker and the national violence prevention leader, Dr. David M. Kennedy.
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Nicole Taetsch
Executive Vice President
Nicole Taetsch brings a diverse background in fundraising, marketing, communications, organizing and public policy to the Amplify team. Nicole initially worked with Amplify at its founding in 2011, after graduating with a Master’s of Public Policy from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University. Nicole subsequently spent ten years working for an asset management firm on the Client Relations team, where she developed deep experience in fundraising, relationship management, public company investor relations, marketing, and event management. Nicole has also worked as a Research Project Coordinator at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
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Mark C. Alexander
Senior Adviser
Mark C. Alexander, JD has served as the Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law since 2016. Alexander’s expertise includes constitutional law, criminal procedure, election law, criminal law and the First Amendment. His research focuses on the constitutional dimensions of election law and campaign reform. Alexander has authored several books on the First Amendment and constitutional law, and his scholarship has been published in leading legal journals. In 2023, he served as President of the Association of American Law Schools.
Alexander previously served as Associate Dean for Academics at Seton Hall University’s School of Law. He also served on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board from 2010 to 2014, having been appointed by President Barack Obama. He previously clerked for Chief Judge Thelton Henderson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and was a litigator with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Francisco. Alexander earned a Juris Doctor from Yale University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Yale University.
Matthew Traub
Senior Adviser
Matthew Traub serves as president and chief operating officer at DKC. In addition to being a principal, a member of the executive team and supervising several of DKC’s divisions, he is a key player in the firm’s technology, media business and crisis management areas. Traub has built and overseen DKC’s work with top tech and media brands. He is a primary liaison with some of the tech industry’s most notable venture capital firms and has worked with some of the nation’s top CEOs, political leaders and personalities. He has supervised the strategic communications campaigns around acquisitions in media, entertainment and technology and an array of complex cases involving civil and criminal litigation.
Traub joined DKC after nearly a decade on Capitol Hill working for three different members of Congress. As chief of staff and press secretary to Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, Traub supervised a staff of 20 people in three offices and served as Lowey’s spokesman and liaison to the New York and national media. Prior to joining Lowey’s staff, Traub worked for Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Thomas Downey (D-NY).
Traub received a bachelor of arts in political science and journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he sits on the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Board of Visitors.
Kyle A. Darby
Government Affairs Adviser
Kyle A. Darby is the President and CEO of Darby Public Strategies, a bipartisan consulting firm based in Philadelphia and Camden County. A former U.S. Senate staffer and senior advisor at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Kyle has a proven track record in government relations, having led multi-state initiatives for the Reform Alliance and served as a senior policy advisor to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. Beyond domestic policy, he is the founder of the U.S. African Trade Alliance (USATA), facilitating infrastructure and economic development across the continent. Kyle holds degrees from Stockton University, Temple University, and Harvard Kennedy School. He serves on several boards, including Live Work Philadelphia, and is a dedicated Philadelphia sports fan and golfer.
Ben Doepke
Ethnographic Researcher
As a brand mythologist and ethnographer, Ben helps clients understand the essence and boundaries of their brands and the people those brands serve. Ben’s research methods are derived from and structured by trans-disciplinary study in psychology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, fiction and art.
Kat Smith
Social and Criminal Justice Consultant
Kat Smith is a recent graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with a master's degree in political science. They are passionate about launching their career to support those directly impacted by systems of injustice through strategy, research, and grassroots community work. Kat holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where they studied political science, legal studies, and journalism. They thrive at the intersection of interdisciplinary research, with a focus on international relations, conflict, civil rights, and government structures.
