Stephanie Strategos Polis is a Managing Director at Rational. With over two decades of strategic communications, reputational management and public affairs experience, she has served in executive roles across the association and political sectors, and at state and federal levels of government. Among them, Steph has worked on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Congressional Budget Committee, and in the Administration of President George W. Bush as Public Liaison to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Steph started her early career in leadership roles on two U.S. Presidential and three U.S. Congressional Campaigns, and in policy roles at the state administration and legislative levels.
Stephanie’s broad executive experience in the association sector includes work as Director of Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lobbying for the pro-growth, market-driven interests and innovations of American businesses. She also served as Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) creating digital and strategic advocacy campaigns and reputational initiatives on behalf of private competitive insurance markets, protecting consumers, business and communities. As head of Communications for PLASTICS, Steph created integrated campaigns around sustainability, recycling and the priorities of the entire supply chain and over 1M workers in the $551 billion plastics manufacturing industry. Her work has also spanned through the nonprofit, financial and political arenas, including fundraising and messaging for republican political campaigns at both the state and federal levels of government.
Stephanie frequently speaks to a wide variety of audiences on topics including political communications, public affairs and PR best practices, connective professional leadership and strategic message refinement. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in behavioral science and law, attending on an opera performance scholarship. She is a National Review Institute Buckley to Burke regional fellow and retains professional certifications in Public Relations and Crisis Communications (2022) from Cornell University, and Organizational Strategic Management from Georgetown University (2024). Steph is a proud alumna of the Miss Wisconsin/Miss America program and currently serves on the board for Miss Washington, D.C. She is a member of Saint George Greek Orthodox Church and resides in Maryland with her three sons and their golden doodle, Sir Sean Connery.