Rick Ridder
President and Co-Founder
rick@rbistrategies.com
Rick Ridder is President and Co-Founder of RBI Strategies and Research, a former presidential campaign manager and a seni or consultant for six other presidential campaigns. Rick has consulted for numerous U.S. Congressional, gubernatorial, and state and local initiative campaigns. Internationally, he has worked in over 23 nations including the successful campaigns of seven heads of state. His firm is one of the few firms to win Pollie Awards (the Oscars of the political industry) for creative efforts, technology applications, and management capabilities (International Consultant of the Year). Rick has also been recognized with the “Award of Achievement” from the Gleitsman Foundation for “commitment and leadership initiating social change.” He has written for “Salon,” “Campaigns and Elections,” “Australian Financial Review, “RealClear Politics,” and “The Denver Post”. He has appeared on “The Daily Show,” all major US networks, the BBC, Australian Broadcasting and a number of foreign broadcast networks. His book, Looking for Votes in All the Wrong Places, received top honors for “Humor” and “Politics” from the Colorado Independent Publishers Book Association.
Rick holds a B.A. from Middlebury College, a M.S. from Boston University, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and business partner, Joannie Braden.
Joannie Braden
Vice-President and Co-Founder
joannie@rbistrategies.com
Joannie Braden has been involved in politics for almost 30 years. Since starting RBI with her husband, she has been integral to every aspect of the firm’s development. As managing partner, Joannie has oversight of all RBI operations, clients, projects, and marketing efforts.
Her expertise includes campaign strategy, voter contact, survey research, and budgeting. Joannie enjoys working with both candidates and non-profits, especially women’s reproductive health advocates and environmental groups. She has worked closely with clients on ad creation, messaging and media placement. She has been involved in campaigns and campaign training programs in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Sweden.
She is a yoga and fitness enthusiast, a discriminating coffee drinker, and an avid reader. She has a working knowledge of Spanish and holds a B.A. from Bennington College.
Faye Diamond
Partner
faye@rbistrategies.com
Faye Diamond advises candidates, membership associations, and non-profit organizations and corporate clients. Her legal, organizational and political skills bring considerable dimension to RBI’s strategic consulting and research services. She specializes in campaign management and strategic consulting for candidates and statewide ballot initiatives and has additional expertise in campaign finance and legal compliance for congressional campaigns. Her work with RBI’s clients ranges from coalition building and grasstops lobbying to framing message, theme, and content for our clients.
She began her professional career at the National Women’s Political Caucus. Upon her return to Colorado she worked for Governor Dick Lamm, first on his 1982 re-election campaign and then on his legislative staff. Faye has managed two state legislative races and worked on various federal, local and referenda campaigns. She served as a UniServ Director for the Colorado Education Association, as the Deputy Campaign Manager on a U.S. Senate campaign, and as Comptroller and Compliance Officer for the Denver International Airport campaign. She has been active in Democratic Party politics, serving as Finance Director for the House Democratic Majority Fund and as Executive Director for the Colorado Democratic Party. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver, College of Law and a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado. Faye is the immediate past Secretary of the International Association of Political Consultants, a position she held for eighteen years.
Tasia Poinsatte
Research Director
tasia@rbistrategies.com
Tasia brings nine years of experience in research and writing across the public, private and non-profit sectors to her role at RBI. She holds an MA from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at DU and a dual-degree BA in Environmental Studies and International Studies from American University in DC. At RBI, Tasia contributes to research, data analysis, strategy, and communications. Her past experience includes social science research and data analysis at the nonprofit One Earth Future, qualitative evaluation and research for the Aurora social enterprise Mile High WorkShop, and marketing and communications at Evalueserve, an international consulting firm that blends human expertise with digital platforms to enhance analytics.
