Meet David Dettman
David Dettman, CEO and co-founder of Dettman Global Strategies (DGS), brings more than 30 years of experience helping political campaigns, public affairs organizations, and international democracy initiatives achieve results. He is recognized for guiding leaders, institutions, and movements through complex political environments in the United States and around the world to overcome significant challenges and succeed.
Before launching DGS, David advanced democracy and the rule of law through senior roles with the American Bar Association (ABA) and Democracy International (DI). At the ABA’s Center for Global Programs, which includes the Rule of Law Initiative and Center for Human Rights, he helped expand global awareness of human rights and legal reform. At DI, he served as Director of Communications and External Relations, following his work as Chief of Party for the Democratic Participation and Reform Program in Bangladesh, funded by USAID and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
David has extensive experience in U.S. politics, having managed and staffed presidential, congressional, and local campaigns. In the 1990s, he managed two congressional races and worked on President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign. He later joined the political technology firm Aristotle International, advising dozens of campaigns for the U.S. presidency, House, and Senate, and serving as project lead for the NAACP Voter Empowerment Project (2000-2002) with the NAACP.
From 2003 to 2007, David served with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), first as Resident Country Director in Ukraine and later as Regional Political Advisor for the Levant, based in Jerusalem. He supported political party development in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and West Bank/Gaza while assisting additional projects in Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, and Iraq. His work was featured in The New Yorker and in George Packer’s book The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq. In 2005, he received a Heroic Order Medal from the Government of Ukraine for his contributions to democratic development. His role leading up to the Orange Revolution was chronicled in Mark MacKinnon’s book The New Cold War.
Returning to the U.S., David became Ohio State Director for Progressive Majority (now part of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee), in 2008, where he recruited, trained, and helped elect progressive candidates to power-shift the Ohio House of Representatives and the State Board of Education. He also contributed to the coordinated campaign that helped elect President Barack Obama. In 2010, he managed Jennifer Brunner’s U.S. Senate campaign, documented in Cupcakes and Courage. He later served as Special Assistant to the Ohio Secretary of State, helping lead initiatives such as bilingual ballot implementation, voter education improvements, and advocacy for banking and financial system reforms.
A native of Cleveland, David grew up in a union household (IUPAT (District Council 6), where he learned that the power of organizing can overcome even the most entrenched obstacles. As a fan of Cleveland sports teams, he learned the importance of allowing hope to triumph over experience.
​
Meet Louise Dettman
Louise Dettman’s communications career spans the U.S., Eurasia, Middle East, Europe, and South Asia. She began as an editor at the regional lifestyle magazine, Southern Living, in Birmingham, AL, and at the city magazine, Charleston, in Charleston, SC. From there, she gravitated toward issues-based membership associations.
Louise worked in public relations on housing issues at the Greater Atlanta Homebuilders Association in Atlanta, GA, and as editor of national and international magazines promoting responsible land use for the Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC. As communications specialist for the American Public Health Association in DC from 2017-2022, she highlighted the health effects of climate change and the environment and promoted health equity, racial justice, gun violence prevention, pandemic response, and more.
Returning to her private sector beginnings, from 2022-2025, Louise promoted a socially responsible, employee-owned, small business with 13 neighborhood hardware stores in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. She also provided outreach and development for boutique DC PR agency Keybridge Communications and for independent educational consulting firm EdRedefined.
In the interim between stints in the nation’s capital, Louise contributed her writing, editing, and photography skills to other publishers, nonprofits, NGOs, and political campaigns to further the causes of democratic elections, free and open media, racial equity in education, and more as a freelancer in the U.S. and while living as an aid worker in Kyiv, Ukraine; Amman, Jordan; Jerusalem, Israel; and Sofia, Bulgaria. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 2011-2014, she served as communications advisor at the international research organization and cholera hospital, icddr,b, supporting public health programs that address developing world challenges.
Upon repatriating to the U.S. in 2014, she incorporated live autobiographical storytelling into her repertoire. Louise has told dozens of true, personal stories live on stages throughout the DC metropolitan area, as well as coached others, both personally and professionally, in telling their own stories in print, online, and onstage to effect change. She enjoys translating complex issues into relatable narratives across platforms.