Lead

Dan Rafter serves as the Communications Team Lead for LSSC. Dan has 15+ years of experience working with coalitions, campaigns, and nonprofits to identify winning messages, develop targeted and effective earned media strategies, and drive compelling narratives in the media. At LSSC, Dan works with state partners and advocates to develop communication strategies that highlight the harms of abusive preemption. 

Dan’s background spans multiple issue spaces –including LGBTQ equality, justice reform, health care, and higher education. Dan has led the communications team at Freedom for All Americans, the national campaign dedicated to winning LGBTQ nondiscrimination. He’s also worked as a Communications Director on Capitol Hill, and for nonprofits including the Human Rights Campaign.

Read More

M+R

Rosa Colman is an Account Supervisor at M+R and a member of the LSSC Communications Team. In her work with LSSC, Rosa helps state coalitions effectively push back against the misuse of preemption legislation and works to spotlight the importance of local control in national media.

Prior to joining M+R, Rosa held communications and operations roles on congressional, statewide, and national political campaigns. She received her B.A. in Political Science and Education from Macalester College.

Read More

M+R

Sydney Gafford is a Media Relations Associate at M+R and a member of the LSSC Communications Team. In her work with LSSC, Sydney helps connect the dots of abusive preemption across issues and highlights for reporters the history and the harms of abusive preemption.

Sydney holds a Bachelor’s degree in public relations from Murray State University, with minors in advertising and marketing.

Read More

Web & Graphic Design

Adam Polaski is a communications strategist and graphic designer living in Asheville, NC. He has more than a decade of experience working to harness the power of writing, narrative, digital strategy, social media, and graphic design to advance social justice. He provides web design, graphic design, and social media strategy services for the Local Solutions Support Center.

Adam has worked on the digital and communication teams at Freedom to Marry, the successful campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples in the United States; the Campaign for Southern Equality, which works toward legal and lived equality for LGBTQ Southerners; Freedom for All Americans, the national campaign for LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections; and The Brigid Alliance, which funds and arranges logistics for people forced to travel long distances for abortion care. He has also supported communications and graphic design efforts for nonprofit organizations including GLSEN, the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, the Southern AIDS Coalition, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, and political candidates.

Read More