ABOUT WONK POLICY & COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
Wonk Policy & Communications, LLC is a boutique consultancy offering a wide range of services to help organizations navigate the health, education, and transportation policy landscapes. We leverage our expertise to create solutions from regulatory strategy to Medicare policy, communications and training to community development coordination and active transportation advocacy.
WHO WE ARE
Rachel Maisler, Founder & CEO
Rachel Maisler is the founder and CEO of Wonk Policy & Communications. She is a dedicated and experienced health policy professional with significant communications experience and demonstrated ability to effectively convey complex health policy issues to key decision makers and medical professionals, the public, and news media. Rachel has more than 12 years’ experience with federal health IT, aging, Medicare and Medicaid policy.
Rachel has spent her career working on federal programs and policies designed to improve quality of life for Americans. She designed and executed a training program for more than 3,000 contractors in every state and territory for the 2020 Census. She previously served as director of advocacy and communications for Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s Disease (LEAD Coalition). She was responsible for mobilizing stakeholder organizations’ grassroots advocacy and coordinated communications initiatives, while shaping the Coalition’s regulatory strategy, policy analysis and development.
During her eight-year tenure at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rachel held positions at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services working on the development and implementation of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs as well as in the CMS Press Office. She served as deputy communications director for the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, as a public affairs officer for the Administration for Community Living, and developed a framework for implementing philanthropic partnerships the Administration for Children & Families.
Rachel holds master’s degree in management of aging services from the Erickson School at UMBC, and a bachelor’s in journalism from Temple University. She’s an avid city cyclist and is chair of the DC Bicycle Advisory Council, a wanderer of the world, and is based in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Hoffman, Chief Communications Officer
Andrew Hoffman is the chief communications officer at Wonk Policy & Communications. He specializes in content generation, editing, and community engagement.
For more than a decade, Andrew was an English, theater and journalism teacher in Prince George’s County (MD) Public Schools. It was during this time that Andrew developed his abilities in editing and crafting effective writing. While teaching in a Title I school, Andrew learned how important advocacy is, especially for communities that are not well represented. Andrew’s interests outside the classroom are public education policy, communications, and instructional (curriculum) design. He has also been recently writing and editing for the photo app Mylio. At Wonk Policy, he is most valued for his writing and editing prowess as well as his ability to put himself in the audience’s place when considering communications issues. As a former union representative, Andrew knows and intimately understands the importance community engagement in creating lasting change. Andrew is curious about new ways to incentivise people to advocate for themselves and their communities.
Andrew graduated from Temple University in 2003 with a Bachelor’s in Communications focused on theater. In 2007, Andrew graduated from Monmouth University with a Master’s in English Education with a focus on rhetoric and composition. Andrew’s hobbies include the New York Times crossword puzzle, rock climbing, and almost anything else that gets him to spend time outdoors. He currently lives in the Bay Area, but the East Coast is always in his heart.
Rudi Riet, Micro-Mobility Project Manager & Community Builder
Rudi Riet is a micro-mobility project manager and community builder for Wonk Policy & Communications LLC. He specializes in developing projects centered around micro-mobility and building community around micro-mobility solutions.
Rudi has a background in micro-mobility organizing and operations. During his time as chair of Potomac Pedalers, the nation’s second largest recreational bicycling club, he grew the membership of the organization while increasing its diversity and helping grow the Back Roads Century into one of the largest cyclosportive rides on the east coast. He also helped establish a dockless, e-assist bikeshare in the District of Columbia, growing its presence from a fleet of 20 bicycles to over 2,000 bicycles over a six month period, as well as helping develop best practices in maintenance and distribution of bicycles, especially to at-risk and lower income communities.
Rudi has developed and led recreational and sporting group bicycle rides in the greater DMV area since 2006, building diverse and vibrant bonds between varied groups of cyclists, the shops that support them, and the communities traversed by these rides. He has also lobbied tirelessly for more equitable and safe accommodations for bicycle riders, pedestrians, and other micro-mobility users over the past decade, testifying before leaders from the District of Columbia, Montgomery County (MD), and Arlington County (VA).
Rudi graduated Connecticut College in 1996 with a B.A. in international relations, and has pursued graduate study in international politics and urban planning from Wesleyan University. While often found on one of his bicycles, Rudi also is a U.S. Ski and Snowboard alpine ski racing coach and official and is head coach of Liberty Mountain Race Team in Carroll Valley, Penn. He lives in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of DC with his partner and their rambunctious cat.