Team RPT
Christina Gagnier - CEO- Public Relations & Strategy
Christina Gagnier serves as the Chief Executive Officer at REALPOLITECH, leading the team in the direction of digital strategy, online campaigns, fundraising and project management for a variety of public and private sector clients. Gagnier has spent nearly ten years in the political and public affairs space, in the days before there was “online organizing.” Gagnier’s career began offline in the non-profit sector, working on initiative campaigns and coordinating voter turnout in California for causes relating to education.
From 2007-2009, Gagnier served as the Chief Information Officer of Mobilize.org, a non-partisan Millennial civic engagement organization, directing the organization’s strategic communications, online interface and research programs. Within this position, Gagnier worked with the team to fashion the Democracy 2.0 program. In Fall 2008, Gagnier’s Democracy 2.0: Millennial-Generated Change to American Governance was featured in the National Civic Review. Gagnier was also one of eight members of the National Conference on Citizenship’s 2008 Civic Health Index Millennial Working Group.
A researcher and information broker at heart, Gagnier focuses on the intersection of on and offline action, specializing in cyberspace law, telecommunications, transparency and privacy. From 2006-2008, Gagnier engaged in research for cyberlaw scholar Lawrence Lessig at Stanford University, working on Code 2.0 and Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. Gagnier consults technology firms on policy issues ranging from patent law reform to communications issues, such as Network Neutrality. In 2008, she published, Running Cases Through a Merck Sieve: Biopharmaceutical Research in the Wake of Merck v. Integra, discussing the legal and political impacts of the 2005 Supreme Court decision and the reaction of the circuit courts. Her most recent publication, On Privacy: Liberty in the Digital Revolution, contains analysis of the impacts of our behavior online on society’s legal privacy rights.
Gagnier serves on the Advisory Board for the service initiative myImpact and is an advisory board member to host of non-profits and startup companies.
Christina blogs in the Technology section of The Huffington Post, is a columnist on legal ethics on the web for California Lawyer and has been a contributor to CBS News’ What’s Trending. She is frequently invited to sit on panels discussing issues like Information Privacy and Data, law in the digital age, Government 2.0 and citizen engagement. She has also been a guest commentator on TV shows like Russia Today’s CrossTalk and NBC’s Press:Here, on radio stations such as KCBS in San Francisco and WCCO in Minnesota, and has also been quoted by MSNBC, The Atlantic, Politico and The New York Times.
Gagnier earned a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Irvine, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco.
Oh, and Gagnier is also one of those lawyer types. More about that side of her professional life can be found here.
Christina is a partner at Gagnier Margossian.
Carter Fort - CTO - Web Development
Carter Fort is a web designer based in Pittsburgh, PA. After working for a few years in print and broadcast advertising, he went into business for himself designing and coding websites under the auspices of Out to Lunch Productions.
Carter chose web design because of the massive amount of work a single person can produce. According to him, the best web designers are also web coders because the aesthetic of a site is integral to its functionality.
“An idea doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be extraordinary.”
Carter is the Principal of Out to Lunch Productions, LLC.
Stephanie Margossian - COO - Public Affairs and Outreach
Stephanie A. Margossian is a founding partner of Gagnier Margossian LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in advising startup companies of all varieties. Margossian has experience working with individual, corporate, organizational and government clients regarding fiscal policy. Margossian has worked with local governments to establish employee benefit plans for city employees, she has provided tax solutions for top executives, and advised corporate officers in transitioning their businesses in corporate takeover situations. Margossian was admitted to the state bar of California in December of 2008.
From 2008-2010, Margossian managed the public interface and outreach efforts for the California Child Development Administrators Association (CCDAA). Margossian worked closely with the executive director in implementing strategy for broadening the organization’s membership base. With CCDAA, she specialized in recruitment and retention of the association’s statewide membership.
Margossian also managed CCDAA’s many public policy initiatives. She developed strategy and implemented campaigns to broaden CCDAA’s advocacy network. In this capacity, Margossian worked closely with the organization’s executive board to mobilize membership to engage in advocacy work on behalf of the organization.
In September 2009, Margossian was named Advocate of the Year by TeenNOW California for her work advocating for educational programs benefiting pregnant and parenting teens and their children.
Stephanie is a partner at Gagnier Margossian.
