Kelsey Knight

As a senior account manager at Distinctive Edge, Kelsey Knight brings a unique perspective with her decade of experience managing communications, crisis, and PR in Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley.

Knight made a successful communications jump from government to industry. She started at Zoom, leading Public Relations and Policy for Government, spearheading the effort to unveil Zoom’s newest platform: Zoom for Government, a tailored, ultra-secure service designed for the federal government. Quickly, she moved up to leading Industry PR, telling the bigger story of how Zoom has integrated into some of the most highly regulated industries like healthcare and financial services. Most recently, she joined the corporate communications team, managing partnerships with industry giants like AWS, Meta, and Walmart.

Before Zoom, Knight served as communications director at the U.S. Department of Energy. At the Department, she recruited, built, and led a team of writers, strategic communicators, and digital media specialists to articulate and promote America’s energy successes. Her most significant achievement was helping the Department and 17 national labs craft and communicate appropriate messaging for the crisis in world energy markets triggered by the coronavirus.

Previously, Knight directed and managed crisis communications on Capitol Hill for seven years, handling issues ranging from the Edward Snowden NSA hack to unraveling the food stamps and agriculture policy debate to framing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a winning argument through the committee process and on the President’s desk for signature.

Prior to working in Congress, Knight served as the communications director in Michigan for the Romney-Ryan Presidential Campaign. As a spokeswoman, she was quoted frequently in Michigan newspapers and participated in local TV interviews. She traveled the state building campaign events, spreading the candidate’s message, and placing stories to gain media coverage. Knight helped narrow the gap in a historically blue state from a 20-point spread in 2008 down to an eight-point spread in 2012.

Previously, Knight was a strategic communications associate at The Chertoff Group, a security consulting firm, and served in the Bush Administration under the Domestic Policy Advisor in the West Wing. She interned in Mrs. Bush’s Press Office and Office of Public Affairs at the Pentagon.
Knight received her master’s degree in corporate communications and public relations at Georgetown University. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of Arizona. Knight lives in Chevy Chase with her husband and three children.