Gabriel Rodriguez

Vice President

Gabe leads major projects in the areas of equity in higher education and digital rights and justice, which includes Spitfire’s work on priorities such as artificial intelligence (AI) and net neutrality. He also supports public agencies in building their capacity to think and act through a lens of strategic communications. A strategist and media specialist at heart, his clients often appear in leading outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone and WIRED. Within these issue areas, Gabe specializes in working closely with change-makers to shape and position their profiles and ideas.

Over the last several years, Gabe has led the firm’s extensive work on addressing the harms of AI. This included everything from fighting erasure of Black women’s contributions by leading news organizations to securing high-profile coverage of leaders in the space to developing deep values and human focused narratives. Building on previous work, he helped lead civil society’s public response to the groundbreaking 2023 AI Executive Order and the associated Office of Management and Budget guidance, as well as the much publicized Senate insights forums. In the higher education space, Gabe maintains a long-running partnership with the California Community Colleges to enhance their strategic communications efforts and orient their work entirely around the needs of today’s students. He also leads strategic planning processes for major foundations and foundation initiatives.

Gabe previously helped found Together We Count, a nonprofit focused on preparing Colorado for the 2020 Census. He served in multiple roles for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 primary and general election campaigns and worked on financial issues, housing, and inclusive economic development for Senate Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-IL). During his time in the Senate, Gabe was part of the team that successfully influenced the Department of Housing and Urban Development to align its guidelines on children’s blood lead levels with current recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He lives in New York.

Connect