New Roles Focused on Driving Agency Growth, Client Strategy and Talent Development
Lucas Public Affairs (LPA) is excited to announce additions to its executive leadership team, naming Jessyca Sheehan and Travis Taylor as executive vice presidents. They join LPA CEO Donna Lucas and President Cassandra Pye in managing the firm, with a focus on driving agency growth and innovation to enhance client strategy, business development and talent management.
“Our corporate, nonprofit and government clients rely on us to help them navigate many of California’s toughest public policy challenges, and Jessyca and Travis have delivered time and again,” said Lucas. “They are trusted, effective strategists, and their elevation reflects their place among California’s top public affairs leaders.”
The new roles follow the increasing leadership and responsibilities both have assumed and will continue to play alongside Lucas and Pye. Sheehan and Taylor will serve as senior strategic leads on client accounts, oversee new business efforts and assume partnership liaison roles with Public Policy Holding Company (PPHC), which LPA joined as a subsidiary in May 2024. In addition to Sheehan and Taylor, Vice President Daisy Castellon and Director Patrick Dorsey continue to expand their leadership responsibilities.
“Jessyca and Travis are great leaders, and they’re also two great humans,” said Pye. “They have helped mentor and grow one of the most talented groups of public affairs practitioners in California while raising the bar of our work and the positive impact our clients have in our communities.”
LPA was founded in 2006 by Donna Lucas. As a subsidiary of PPHC, a publicly traded company headquartered in Washington, D.C. with connections in other state capitals and in Europe, Lucas and LPA President Cassandra Pye have strengthened the agency’s bench now and into the future, committing to their roles for at least the next five years.
Jessyca Sheehan, Executive Vice President
Sheehan joined LPA in 2019 having worked for both global and California-based public affairs firms. As the lead for LPA’s work in energy and climate, Jessyca brings a depth of experience in corporate communications, strategy and message development, issues management and crisis communications to the firm’s clients spanning water, energy, technology, transportation and more.
Sheehan provides strategic guidance to LPA clients, managing statewide public affairs campaigns and corporate initiatives. She is also a sought-after speaker, leading public speaking and message training seminars for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations and senior executives. Sheehan oversees LPA’s client services and innovation initiative focusing on AI and other emerging industry trends, tools and best practices.
Travis Taylor, Executive Vice President
Taylor joined LPA in 2018 following senior leadership positions at public affairs and strategic communications firms in San Francisco, Honolulu and Sacramento, and senior advisor to Hawaii’s lieutenant governor. Taylor works on several of the firm’s toughest and most complex challenges, bringing to bear his accomplished career in public affairs, public relations, government and crisis communications for LPA’s corporate, nonprofit and government clients.
Taylor leads LPA’s business development team, helps provide oversight of LPA’s financial operations and serves on the finance committee of PPHC. He also maintains a senior strategist role across an array of client accounts and leads media and crisis communications training sessions.