Billy Linville

CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER

Billy Linville is a co-founder and managing partner at Lexicon Strategies, focusing his practice on providing strategic communication, public affairs, media relations, campaign management, business development, and political consulting for clients across the country.

Brian Tolleson

CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER

Previously CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, founder of renowned advertainment studio BARK BARK, and former Marketing and Creative executive at Viacom, Brian Tolleson has spent his career working at the intersection of human rights, media and social justice while managing billions in partnership marketing initiatives, multi-platform branding and content strategy for distributors like Sony, NBC Universal, and Google, as well as marketers such as P&G, Unilever, Clorox, Citigroup, Target, Microsoft, Starbucks, Mercedes Benz, Chevron and General Motors.

Brian has won many advertising awards (Clios, Cannes Lions, Promax), been nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy, received the Eugene J. Gangarosa, M.D. Award for Excellence in International Health and has been named to Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100 report naming Atlanta’s 100 most influential people.

Dave Huddleston

PARTNER

Dave Huddleston is a partner at Lexicon Strategies. Dave focuses on media, messaging, and strategic communication.

Dave has been covering news stories from around the country for more than 30 years. As a television anchor and reporter, he's been at the center of many of the country's biggest events.

Ryan Roemerman

partner

Ryan is an innovative strategist who has served as a consultant for state, national, and global businesses and organizations seeking to advance equity and social impact. Throughout his career, Ryan has utilized partnerships, relationship building, and research to create policies and practices that change lives; campaigns that focus on coalition development and storytelling to amplify messaging; and tactical insights to help organizations pivot and thrive. 

He has successfully launched programs and campaigns across the country with partners like the U.S. Department of Education, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Child Trends, the National Institute of Justice, and The White House. His current strategy and implementation consulting to independent, civic, and business clients include the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Atlanta Braves, and the American Medical Association Foundation, among others.

Polly McKinney

PARTNER

Polly McKinney, a partner at Lexicon Strategies, is a seasoned professional with over three decades of experience in integrating communications and policy to foster community development. Her work involves collaborating with various organizations and governments, ensuring successful policy and program outcomes. Polly has been pivotal in advancing Voices for Georgia’s Children since 2010, focusing on child and family wellbeing policies. Her expertise extends to numerous boards and committees, including the Georgia School Based Health Alliance, the National Juvenile Justice Network and Georgia’s Juvenile Justice State Advisory Board. Polly's influence in child policy and advocacy is complemented by her unique approach to engagement, as seen in her popular "Two-Minute Take" videos and Legislative Updates.

Before her focus on child policy, Polly contributed significantly to the Southern States Energy Board's communication strategies and led the League of Women Voters of Georgia. Her extensive background in the film industry includes owning Long Game Strategies, LLC, where she produces impactful documentaries and commercials. Polly's film work spans writing and producing high-profile documentaries, like “Echoes of Captivity” for the National P.O.W. Museum, to crewing the Food network’s "Good Eats", to directing impactful ads for the American Academy of Pediatrics (GA) and Georgia's 2020 Census. 

Lisa Benjamin

PARTNER

Lisa Y. Benjamin is a partner at Lexicon Strategies, where she excels in public-private partnerships, major government projects, commercial real estate, and infrastructure development. As the former Chief Operating Officer for the City of Atlanta, Lisa has a proven track record of leading large-scale operations and managing significant financial portfolios. Her strategic leadership has consistently delivered impactful results, earning her numerous accolades and recognition in her field.

Before joining Lexicon Strategies and the City of Atlanta, Lisa led Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, driving significant growth and community impact. She is known for her ability to navigate complex financial transactions and foster public-private collaborations. 

Tori Cooper

PARTNER

Tori Cooper is a partner at Lexicon Strategies. A 2x Emmy nominated, award-winning journalist and California native, Tori has devoted the last decade of her life to sharing the stories of others and leaving lasting impacts on people through written and video media.

With thousands of hours of on-camera experience, Tori has cultivated trusted relationships with powerful Georgia politicians on both sides of the aisle, Metro Atlanta police chiefs, city government officials, Fortune 500 companies, and the people of Atlanta.

Amy Koonin Taylor

PARTNER

Amy Koonin Taylor is a Partner at Lexicon Strategies, where she leads innovative digital media and content initiatives. She previously served as the Head of Media and Content for Lexicon Strategies, effectively utilizing her extensive expertise in digital marketing, crisis communications, brand storytelling, search engine optimization, and social media platform management to help clients across various industries tackle their unique challenges. 

With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, she has held key positions, including Marketing and Content Manager at Rubicon Technologies, where she produced the popular podcast, The Town Haul.

Amelia Pane Schaffner

PARTNER

Amelia is a strategy and innovation consultant with core competencies in corporate culture and change management, customer discovery and demand validation, business model design, and go-to-market framing, among others. She co-founded the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Emory University, ranked 22 among the 4,000+ American universities, driving an entrepreneurial culture throughout the school and in the ecosystem.

Previously, Amelia led multiple global initiatives for Accenture, whose current clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Amelia’s projects ranged from innovation to growth strategy to culture change, often working with large clients and organizations, including the World Economic Forum. She is an accomplished educator, having envisioned and taught courses on entrepreneurship & innovation topics, designed corporate curricula and capability development programs, created playbooks and best practices forums. Amelia is a summa cum laude graduate of LUISS University, Rome, Italy, and a multi-cultural citizen who has lived and worked on three continents.

Shirley Franklin

of counsel

During Shirley Franklin's eight years as Mayor of Atlanta, the city experienced unprecedented growth and afforded Ms. Franklin the opportunity to partner and collaborate with many local and regional leaders in addressing policy challenges, which included urban planning, economic development and infrastructure.

Ms. Franklin is best known for advocating for and tackling major government operations and ethics reform, launching the Atlanta Beltline, planning and executing over $5 billion in airport and water infrastructure improvements, leading the acquisition of the Morehouse College Collection of Martin Luther King Jr. Papers, launching the Regional Commission on Homelessness and developing successful business and public sector partnerships and alliances.

Dr. Mark Rosenberg

of counsel

Dr. Mark Rosenberg was instrumental in establishing CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and became its first permanent director.

He also served as Assistant Surgeon General. He was president and CEO of The Task Force for Global Health from 2000-2016.

Under his leadership, The Task Force grew to be one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country and is instrumental in providing people in the developing world with greater access to vaccines for influenza, cholera, and other deadly diseases, and medicines for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.