Rob is the firm’s managing partner. He leads the firm’s overall management, including client service, operational excellence, and talent development. He brings deep expertise in external relations, strategic communications, and organizational leadership, and is skilled at using communications and advocacy programs to bolster business goals, raise individual and corporate profiles, and achieve public policy objectives.
Prior to joining FTP, Robert served as chief of external affairs at the National Park Foundation (NPF). At NPF, he led the team responsible for government relations, communications, marketing, and corporate partnerships, retooling the organization’s external affairs function to better support its mission and growth. NPF initiatives under Robert’s leadership included congressional passage of landmark conservation legislation, the development of a new NPF brand platform (Wonder Calls), creation of a dedicated social media function, realignment of the corporate partnership program, and the creation of a nationwide advertising campaign. The Foundation raises approximately $100 million per year to protect and enhance the nation’s national parks and connect more people to them.
Earlier in his career, Robert was the president of Ogilvy Washington for 15 years where he was responsible for all aspects of this multi-disciplinary Ogilvy & Mather office, including public relations and public affairs, advertising, and the nation’s leading social marketing practice. Ogilvy Washington’s clients included Fortune 100 companies, industry trade associations, and key federal agencies. Under Robert’s leadership, Ogilvy Washington became the fastest growing and most profitable office across Ogilvy’s global public relations network.
While still responsible for the day-to-day operations of Ogilvy Washington, Robert was appointed North American CEO for Ogilvy Public Relations. In this capacity, Robert managed seven offices across the United States, a nationwide P&L of $150 million, and a team of approximately 500 people. Prior to assuming leadership of the Washington office, Robert served as the head of Ogilvy PR’s San Francisco office.
Robert has also had extensive experience in the federal government, having served in President George H.W. Bush’s (R) administration as the executive assistant to U.S. Energy Secretary James D. Watkins and, subsequently, as deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Energy where he managed an expansive federal budget, career employees, and government programs. Robert has also worked abroad in Saudi Arabia where he was a member of a team that pioneered the development and implementation of a kingdom-wide public health program.
Robert has been recognized as a leader in his field, including induction into the Public Relations Society of America’s National Capital Chapter Hall of Fame and the PRNews Hall of Fame. A native Washingtonian, he is a past chair of the Board of Trustees for the Lab School of Washington and has served on the Board of Trustees of The Yellowstone Park Foundation.
Connor is an associate in FTP’s federal government relations practice. His work spans policy areas including healthcare, trade, manufacturing, energy, AI, quantum computing, and prediction markets. Connor specializes in translating large volumes of legislative, regulatory, political, and stakeholder information into actionable insights. He also works on the firm’s efforts at the cutting edge of how policy intelligence is organized and consumed, developing dashboards, visualizations, and other tools that help teams synthesize critical information flows. Additionally, Connor conducts congressional and executive branch outreach, supports project management across client accounts, and coordinates the development of strategic communication materials.
Prior to joining FTP’s federal government relations practice, Connor interned with the firm’s state advocacy (governor engagement) team. Earlier in his career, he interned in the Colorado State Legislature and on Capitol Hill, worked on three political campaigns, and worked at a Colorado-based lobbying firm.
Ed is a partner in FTP’s federal government relations practice. One of Washington’s most respected financial services experts, Ed has spent three decades at the center of the American financial system and the policy frameworks that govern it. Across nearly two decades at Bank of America and as Head of Government Affairs at the Bank Policy Institute, he represented the nation’s largest banks and helped architect the modern financial system. He steered the industry through the financial crisis and the rewrite of capital, liquidity, and market rules that followed, including the Basel framework that governs global banking today. He advises on bank capital and liquidity, market structure, payments and fintech, consumer and housing finance, and the fast-moving rules for crypto, digital assets, and stablecoin regulation.
On Capitol Hill, Ed holds deep relationships across the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees, and across Treasury, the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, SEC, CFTC, and CFPB. Previously, Ed led financial services advocacy at the Financial Services Roundtable, served at the National Governors Association, and worked in the Bank Regulatory and Risk Management practice at Ernst & Young.
Trevor is a partner in FTP’s federal government relations practice. He focuses on capital markets and political risk, advising clients whose business models depend on the timing and substance of regulatory and legislative decisions.
Prior to joining FTP in 2020, Trevor was COO and director of research at a boutique investment bank in Washington, D.C. In his dual roles, he was responsible for the overall performance of the policy research, strategic consulting, and investment banking divisions. He led teams that advised institutional and private equity clients and portfolio company leadership on political and investment strategy, with a focus on legislative and regulatory policy issues.
Trevor began his career with eight years as a merger arbitrage trader and political risk specialist at Carlson Capital, focused on regulatory uncertainty related to Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission reviews, CFIUS, and state commission approvals of major transactions. He also spent nearly two years working on U.S. House campaigns in New York City and New Mexico through the Campaign Corps program.
Libby is a partner and head of FTP’s government relations practice. She advises Fortune 500 corporations, investors, and major trade associations on their most consequential fights in Washington, from high-stakes legislation and regulatory threats to congressional investigations, reputational crises, and the political risk that can reshape an industry overnight. She holds longstanding, trusted relationships across House Democratic leadership, the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees, and the committees and members who drive critical outcomes across the American economy. A former House chief of staff who came up with winning campaigns in Alabama and red-leaning districts across the country, she has built her career on a conviction that real wins are achieved through bipartisan strategy designed around a durable coalition of support.
One of Washington’s leading healthcare and life sciences advocates, Libby was a key strategist on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry throughout the Affordable Care Act negotiations. In the years since, she has worked on every major piece of healthcare legislation and the defining fights over drug pricing, PBMs, the 340B program, physician reimbursement, and FDA reform. She fights to get new therapies into the hands of the patients who need them, to protect the reimbursement frameworks that put new cures within reach, and to keep American biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovation ahead of global competition. Her work extends across medical devices and diagnostics, most recently working to pass the 2026 law extending Medicare coverage to multi-cancer early detection, bringing a new generation of cancer screening to millions of Americans and changing the odds in the fight against cancer.
Across healthcare and the broader economy, Libby is sought out for the highest-stakes corporate battles, steering companies and industries through congressional investigations, reputational crises, and the political risk around mergers and acquisitions. Libby advises clients on the policy and politics that will define their industries, from food and agriculture to retail and trade, technology, AI, and the live events economy.
On Capitol Hill, Libby served as chief of staff to Representative Allen Boyd (D-FL) for nearly a decade, helping lead the Blue Dog Coalition to the height of its influence, growing its political operation tenfold, and recruiting and mentoring the moderate candidates who delivered the Democratic House majority in 2006. She helped write the Blue Dogs’ pay-as-you-go budget rules, enacted into federal law and still in force today, that require Congress to pay for what it spends, a cornerstone of the coalition’s fiscal legacy. Today she sits at the heart of the centrist coalition that decides close votes, the moderate members who hold the balance in a narrowly divided House. That work extends through Center Forward, the bipartisan organization she co-founded in 2010, now one of Washington’s leading conveners of cross-party dialogue. Libby’s political career began in Alabama, where she rose through state campaigns and Democratic politics before joining a national fundraising practice in Washington. She went on to serve as Representative Allen Boyd’s chief of staff for nearly a decade before joining Jeff Forbes in 2009 at the firm that would become Forbes Tate Partners (now FTP). A native of Birmingham, she holds a B.A.in English from Birmingham-Southern College, where she graduated with Distinction in Leadership Studies.
Jeff Forbes is the founding partner and chairman of FTP. A 20-year veteran of political campaigns at every level, Jeff began his involvement in politics more than 25 years ago on then-Senator Al Gore’s 1988 Presidential bid. Since that time, he has worked with and coordinated numerous campaigns, ranging from municipal candidates to the U.S. Congress, as well as the White House.
Prior to founding Forbes Tate Partners (FTP), Jeff was a founding partner at Forbes Tate’s predecessor, Cauthen Forbes & Williams. He served as the Democratic staff director for the US Senate Committee on Finance in 2003. Before assuming this role at the Committee, he served as chief of staff to former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) from 1999-2002. Beyond his knowledge of the intricacies of tax and trade, Jeff is a veteran strategist for the Democratic National Committee. From 1993-1995 he served as Midwest political director. Jeff later served the national committee as chief of strategy in 1999.
A stalwart of the Clinton-Gore administration, Jeff was the New Hampshire field director for then-Governor Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign. In President Clinton’s 1996 re-election bid, he was deputy political director and director of delegate selection. Following the campaign, Jeff went on to serve as a special assistant to the President and staff director for legislative affairs in 1997. From 1998-99, he served as the deputy assistant to President Clinton and was the deputy director of scheduling at the White House. He also served as senior advisor to the Obama for President Campaign in New Hampshire in the 2008 presidential election. Jeff was a member of the Democratic National Committee’s special Democratic Change Commission to improve the presidential delegate selection process and has been a member of the DNC since 2009.
Jeff was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Northfield, Minnesota. He earned a B.A. in Political Science with an Economics minor from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 1987. Jeff and his wife live in Chevy Chase, Maryland with their three sons.
Colleen is an executive vice president in FTP’s public affairs practice. She brings more than two decades of experience leading integrated communications and public affairs campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels for a diverse portfolio of clients, including Fortune 50 companies, nonprofit organizations, and trade associations. She oversees FTP’s 50‑state field network, guiding strategy and execution across markets.
Prior to joining FTP, Colleen founded and led Elevation Advocacy, a boutique public affairs firm. Earlier in her career, she served as vice president of public affairs at Capitol Direct Messaging, where she directed issue advocacy campaigns for clients across multiple industries, including AARP and Ford Motor Company.
Colleen’s expertise centers on advancing complex issue advocacy efforts at the state and local level, leveraging grasstops engagement, strategic communications, and targeted voter outreach to drive legislative and regulatory outcomes. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Loyola University Maryland and also studied at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Colleen lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and son.
Katie is a director in FTP’s federal government relations practice, where she provides strategic support and advocacy on behalf of clients across transportation and infrastructure, financial services, banking, and technology. As a registered federal lobbyist, she brings clients to Capitol Hill, coordinates meetings with members of Congress and their staff, and advances client legislative objectives through direct Hill engagement.
In her role, Katie coordinates high-level meeting logistics and prepares detailed briefing materials and biographies for client engagements with members of Congress, federal agencies, and trade associations. She monitors congressional hearings, committee markups, and federal rulemakings to identify key opportunities and risks.
Prior to joining FTP, Katie gained experience on Capitol Hill through an internship in the office of Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and in the private sector in Washington, D.C., building a foundation in federal policy that she has carried into her work across multiple client teams at the firm.
Katie holds a B.A. with Honors in Politics and International Affairs and a minor in English Literature from Wake Forest University, where she graduated in 2024. She is originally from Louisville, Kentucky.
Bob is a partner in FTP’s public affairs and government relations practices. He joined the firm in 2017 after serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Illinois’s 10th Congressional District, where he became known for pragmatic leadership, a bipartisan approach to governance, and a commitment to tax reform, health care improvements, and economic growth. A dedicated public servant and small‑business owner, Bob built a reputation as an independent voice in Congress focused on practical solutions.
During his time in Congress, Bob prioritized tax reform to support small businesses and middle‑class families. Drawing on firsthand experience as a business owner, he championed policies that encouraged growth, job creation, and economic stability, supporting legislation to simplify the tax code, reduce burdens on small businesses, and provide incentives for innovation and investment. He also worked to ensure greater financial security for families, advocating for middle‑class tax relief and responsible fiscal policies to reduce the national deficit.
Bob was a key advocate for practical health care reform focused on affordability, accessibility, and innovation. He opposed efforts that would strip protections from individuals with pre‑existing conditions and supported bipartisan efforts to strengthen health care markets, lower prescription drug costs, and expand choices for families and employers, emphasizing patient‑centered solutions and high‑quality, affordable care.
As chairman of the Tuesday Group, a caucus of moderate Republican lawmakers, Bob helped foster bipartisan cooperation in Congress. He worked to bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats and played a key role in shaping legislation on infrastructure, economic policy, and government transparency. Prior to being elected to Congress, Bob served as investigative counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee and ran a small business. He holds a B.A. from Denison University, a J.D. from Indiana University, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and lives on the North Shore of Chicago with his wife, Danielle, and their three children.
Tori is a vice president in FTP’s insights and analytics practice. Drawing on a decade of experience in opinion research, government, and public affairs, she is a data-driven strategist who helps clients navigate complex policy, reputation, and business challenges.
Combining quantitative and qualitative research, media analysis, and audience intelligence, Tori uncovers the stories behind the data and translates those insights into effective communications and advocacy strategies. Her work frequently focuses on healthcare and technology issues. She helps clients identify emerging trends, shape narratives, engage key audiences, and make informed decisions in rapidly evolving environments.
Prior to joining FTP, Tori worked at Public Opinion Strategies, where she supported political campaigns, ballot initiatives, and public affairs clients. She began her career on Capitol Hill, and her experience in both research and government gives her a strong understanding of the intersection of public opinion, policy, and advocacy.
A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Tori lives on Capitol Hill with her husband, Nate. Outside of work, she enjoys trying new restaurants and cheering on the Buckeyes. Tori is currently pursuing her M.B.A. from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
