Cashman + Katz public affairs unit Octagon Strategy Group has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of Liz Kurantowicz and Stacey Monahan, who join the political communications firm as managing partner and group managing director, respectively.
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| Stacey Monahan & Liz Kurantowicz | |
Kurantowicz joins Octagon from social advocacy platform Wholecrowd, where she served as VP of sales and marketing. Prior to that, she was a senior consultant at Washington, D.C.-based CAP Public Affairs. Kurantowicz previously served the Connecticut Republican Party, which she joined as finance director before being named chief of staff in 2009. A former federal affairs liaison for CT Governor M. Jodi Rell as well as a consultant to Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, Kurantowicz is also a political instructor for the International Republican Institute and the Republican National Committee.
Monahan was previously commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Prior to that she was chief of staff to the MA Secretary of Health and Human Services, and was executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. She was also an aide to U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA).
Glastonbury, CT-based Octagon was launched in July by former Connecticut Republican Party executive director John Kleinhans and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee regional director Andy Arens.
The bi-partisan political communications and consulting firm, which works in partnership with Cashman + Katz Integrated Communications, holds additional offices in Boston and New York.



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