OUR TEAM
Emily Patrolia
Founder & President
Emily Patrolia is the Founder & President of ESP Advisors, and together with her team, combines environmental science expertise, strategic policy engagement, and communications prowess to drive success for their clients.
Most recently, Emily was Director of Sustainability at Invariant Government Relations, helping fortune 500 companies lead on environmental issues and influencing U.S. policy through advocacy, partnerships, and data-driven solutions. She advised clients on food, agriculture, trade, and environmental and ocean policy.
Martha Newell-Kinsman
Executive Vice President
Martha Newell-Kinsman brings leadership and experience from the military, Capitol Hill, and the non-profit sector to her role as Executive Vice President of ESP Advisors.
Working for the Dean of the House and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, Martha prioritized bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle for compromise. She wrote and passed legislation pertaining to public lands management, energy, fisheries and wildlife management, and ocean health, among others.
Sarah Brenholt
Policy Advisor
As a federal policy advocate, meticulous researcher, and problem-solver, Sarah Brenholt brings a diverse portfolio of experience and skills to the ESP Advisors team.
Sarah has been a policy analyst and advocate at Henderson Strategies, Inc. and the Stronger America Through Seafood Campaign for over three years.
Her unique ability to work in fast-paced, time-critical environments with many moving parts allows her to consistently deliver wins for her clients.
Mark Haver
Policy Advisor
Mark Haver provides political insight, creative strategy, and project support to our clients.
Previously, Mark was a Field Organizer for the Florida Democratic Party in the 2020 election, and served as an Ocean Leader with Sustainable Ocean Alliance for the past three years, most recently as the Inaugural Chair of the Youth Policy Advisory Council. He was also a NOAA Hollings Scholar and State Department Critical Language Scholar in Indonesia.
Kat Montgomery
Policy Advisor
Kat Montgomery specializes in seafood, aquaculture, and ocean policy and is a deep legislative thinker and writer. She was most recently staff for Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), then-Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
While serving for the Chairman, Kat spearheaded bipartisan aquaculture legislation, commercial and recreational fisheries, unmanned maritime systems, illegal fishing enforcement, seafood trade, and more.
Haley Steinhauser
Director of Communications
Haley Steinhauser’s love for storytelling landed her in the field of Marketing and Communications where she has worked in startups for over a decade managing teams, leading strategic (internal and external) communications, developing brand strategy, and elevating executive team members into thought leaders.
Prior to launching Hayward Collective and partnering with ESP Advisors, Haley led communications for multiple local political campaigns and directed corporate communication for various startups and nonprofits in a wide variety of industries.
Cat Elia
Art Director
Cat Elia specializes in marketing and brand development, unifying communication, graphic strategies, and client relations. She has been an in-house creative working in the corporate industry for over six years.
As a designer and artist, she has a keen eye for corporate design and vast editorial experience developing client-specific work and RFQ/P submissions. Her passion for design, coupled with her goal of delivering clear visual information is the foundation to all her designs.
Robin McGahey
Communications Manager
Robin holds a double BA from the University of Washington in Media and Foreign Affairs, and a background working in ocean health. Most recently, Robin was the Brand Marketing Associate at Sustainable Ocean Alliance and before that was Festival and Benefit Coordinator at the International Ocean Film Festival.
Along with her work at ESP, she is currently working towards a master’s in Strategic Public Relations at George Washington University where she focuses on Environmental Communication.
James Kwon
Marketing and Communications Specialist
James Kwon brings extensive knowledge of social media strategy, search engine optimization, website development, content marketing, and campaign management. Previously, James was the Public Affairs Coordinator at the Council of Korean Americans and served as a Policy Analyst at Hawaii Public Policy Advocates, LLC.
His expertise has helped grow user bases and social media engagement three-fold over a period of one year and conduct a top-to-bottom redesign of websites in just under a month.
