Where Political Experience, Skill, and Persuasion Meet

Bryan Brooks, Partner

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Mr. Brooks has multiple decades of experience in the political and policy arena here in Wisconsin. He is well equipped to consult and support our clients in a wide range of strategic planning services including strategic consulting, lobbying, procurement, political positioning, grassroots, grass tops, and public relations strategies.

Prior to his work with Paladin Consulting Group, Mr. Brooks was the President & Owner of Brooks Consulting LLC, a government and business consulting firm.  Mr. Brooks also spent several years at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek Government Affairs, a subsidiary of Whtye Hirschboeck Dudek SC law firm in Wisconsin.  At both Brooks Consulting and WHDGA, Mr. Brooks worked with clients at local, state, and federal levels in all areas of consulting.

Jeff Fitzgerald, Partner

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Over several decades, Mr. Fitzgerald has built very strong relationships and connections local, state, and federal political spheres making him well positioned to help navigate the policy and political goals of our clients.

Mr. Fitzgerald comes to Paladin after serving twelve years in the Wisconsin State Legislature.  During the 2010-11 session, Mr. Fitzgerald served as Speaker—the body’s highest post.  He has also served as Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Leader during his time in office.  Through the leadership of Mr. Fitzgerald, the Assembly Republicans retook control of the Assembly in 2010 after losing the majority two years earlier.  With over half of the Assembly caucus turning over in the last two election cycles, there is no one in the consulting world that has a stronger relationship with that caucus.

Savannah Regali, Government Relations Executive

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Savannah Regali is a government relations executive with Paladin Consulting Group. Ms. Regali is experienced in government relations with a demonstrated history of working in the political organization industry. Ms. Regali is skilled in lobbying, management, organization, and advertising.

Ms. Regali comes to Paladin after four years at the Minnesota Retailers Association where she was the government relations manager. Throughout her time with the Association, Ms. Regali lobbied for members including Target, Kwik Trip, and single point independent retailers. Her work at the Capitol, with Association fundraisers and events allowed her to recruit and gain members for the Association.

Ms. Regali also worked in Wisconsin politics running a field office for the 2018 elections as well as working on individual campaigns. She was able to build strong relationships with State Assembly members, State Senate members, State executive branch members, and US Congressmen on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Regali also served at the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce in their government affairs division.

Having Chamber of Commerce experience as well as Association experience will allow Ms. Regali to build and lead coalitions to advance our clients’ positions. In addition, having that experience in Wisconsin prior to her transition to Minnesota is invaluable. Being so close to Wisconsin and lobbying for many multi-state retailers allowed Ms. Regali to not only maintain and grow her Wisconsin relationships but also allowed her to learn the ins and outs of the Wisconsin Legislature. She will be an immediate asset to Paladin Consulting Group.

Jeff Buhrandt, Consultant

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Mr. Buhrandt began his career working for long time Congressman David Obey, who represented northwestern Wisconsin for 41 years. After six years in the congressman’s office, he moved to Madison and worked in the State Senate for eight years, including four years as a Chief of Staff to a leading member of the Finance Committee where he was responsible for developing budget proposals and communications strategies.

He spent the next ten years working at the Universities of Wisconsin (formerly referred to as the University of Wisconsin System), including the last three years as Vice President for University Relations. In this role, Mr. Buhrandt led all external relations activities on behalf of Wisconsin’s thirteen public universities. This included government relations, corporate relations, tribal relations, communications, and economic development efforts, while also serving as the primary liaison to the Evers administration.

Over the course of his 25-year career, he has built strong bipartisan relationships, both in the Republican controlled legislature and throughout the Evers administration, including in the Governor’s office and at the agency level. In addition to relationships with state stakeholders, Mr. Buhrandt has also worked extensively with local community leaders, including chambers of commerce and local elected officials on a variety of projects. He continues to maintain strong relationships with his university colleagues throughout the state and in the system administration office.

Mike Rogowski, Senior Counsel

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Prior to joining Paladin, Mike was a Partner at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek (WHD), and its successor law firm, Husch Blackwell (HB), eventually taking on the role of Wisconsin’s Managing Principal of Husch Blackwell Strategies (HBS), the government affairs arm of the law firm.

For over 20 years, Mike led the Wisconsin Government Affairs teams at WHD, HB and HBS, where he applied his in-depth and practical understanding of the government’s inner workings in representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies, to a Sovereign Tribal Nation, to nonprofits.

Mike has also held key decision-making roles in the Wisconsin executive and legislative branches. He previously served under two Wisconsin governors – as the Chief of Staff and as Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Departments of Corrections and Financial Institutions – and has held leadership roles in the Wisconsin Legislature as Executive Director and in-house Legal Counsel of the Senate Republican Caucus; Special Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Healthcare Reform; and Clerk of the Senate Organization Committee. With a keen understanding of how to advocate for clients at the highest levels of government, Mike’s wealth of experience equips him to advocate for clients on legislative, administrative and agency regulatory matters.

Representative lobbying and advocacy efforts include serving as principal lobbyist for a Fortune 100 technology company, advising the largest global internet provider on state and local advocacy efforts, and leading advocacy efforts to defeat a regulatory licensing bill that threatened a nutritional products company and its consumers in three successive legislative sessions. Mike has been actively engaged in Wisconsin government and business associations, including having served on Governor Walker’s Education Transition and Presidential Campaign advisory teams, advisory councils for two successive Attorney Generals, and advisory boards for Wispolitics.com, the Wisconsin Retail Council, and Insight Schools of Wisconsin. Mike received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Law School and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bradley University with a double-major in Political Science and Journalism.