Rachel Pearson draws on her extensive experience of elective politics to provide corporations, associations, and non-profit organizations with strategic planning and counsel.

With tremendous experience in numerous Senate campaigns and three Presidential elections, she has formed deep and extensive relationships with Members of both houses of Congress. Committed to reaching across the aisle, Pearson often convenes bipartisan Members of Congress and congressional staff in an effort to foster relationships that will result in legislative solutions.

In that spirit, Rachel launched the Capitol Conversation & Performing Arts Series, an initiative designed to expose 535 Members of Congress to America’s fine arts virtuosos and promote a keener understanding of how music develops the American mind.

In the wake of the 2018 election, she launched Engage: Promoting Women’s Economic Security, a bipartisan organization focused on expanding economic opportunity for all American women in the 21st century.

Laura Valentine is the Chief of Staff at Pearson & Associates and has been with the firm since June 2017. Before joining Pearson & Associates, Laura spent two summers working for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in both the Congresswoman’s District Office in Miami, Florida and in her Capitol Hill office.

Laura graduated from Duke University in May 2017 with a degree in Public Policy Studies and a minor in History. While there, Laura’s proudest accomplishment was spending a semester studying her Cuban-American heritage through the lens of her grandmother and producing a microhistory titled “Mirta,” which details her grandmother’s life and experience in the context of the Cuban Revolution – before, during, and after.

Toby Tyler Douthat is the Executive Director of Engage. Prior to joining Engage, Toby spent seven years with the office of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham where she served as Deputy Communications Director, led the Senator’s federal grants assistance operation, and built lifelong friendships across South Carolina. Toby spent much of 2020 in the Palmetto State assisting Senator Graham in his most recent campaign.

Toby graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2016 with a degree in Public Health and Psychology. While there, Toby served as the President of Alpha Delta Pi sorority where she played a key role in launching the nationwide Live Your Oath campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses. As a student, Toby also interned at a local employee benefits agency and nannied for multiple families who became dear friends.

Toby’s passion for women’s economic security started at home in Georgia as the oldest of three daughters, blossomed as she walked alongside friends in different life stages and socioeconomic circumstances, and found purpose when she attended the first Engage Summit in 2018. Toby lives in Washington DC with her husband Clay and their precious Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Jimmy. Toby enjoys cooking for a table full of people she loves, reviving the lost art of handwritten letters, (slowly) running races in DC, and waiting for her tulip bulbs to bloom.