Sue Zoldak
Founder and Owner of The Zoldak Agency, Zoldak victory, and zoldak research; Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of wolfram labs, a political tech accelerator
Sue Zoldak creates ground-breaking digital and social media campaigns, builds grassroots coalitions, and provides leading-edge advertising and media strategy. She succeeds by bringing a Madison Avenue mentality to public affairs, unafraid to bring uncommon ideas to the table. Determined to get inside the mind of audiences and find out what gets them to act, Sue tirelessly seeks to deploy the right tools, but only as part of a sound strategy.
As Founder and Owner of The Zoldak Agency, launched inn 2016, Sue gets to do what she loves best – win advocacy campaigns and help clients pass or defeat legislation.
Named by Campaigns & Elections Reed Awards “Best Public Affairs Firm” in 2018 and 2019, The Zoldak Agency has also won numerous Pollie Awards since its founding, the “Oscar’s of the political industry,” including Public Affairs Best in Show and Best Use of Social Media. Her firms have also won Reed Awards and International Polaris Awards, for a total of 42 industry accolades since she went out on her own. In 2019, Sue launched two new firms, Zoldak Research, a public opinion polling firm, and Zoldak Victory, a Republican political ad agency, the latter of which was a finalist for “Best Political Firm Branding” in 2020. In 2020, The Zoldak Agency also received a finalist nod for the third year in a row for “Best Public Affairs Firm.”
co-Founder and chief strategy officer of Wolfram Labs
In 2023, Sue and her partner Dana Cichon co-founded a first-of its kind tech accelerator, Wolfram Labs, for tech startups, innovators, and investors who want to disrupt the political tech marketplace. Breaking into the political game is notoriously difficult. Dana and Sue saw a gap in the marketplace for counsulting grounded in deep knowledge of the industry and its players. Together, they bring the insight needed for companies to break through. Campaign & Elections Reed Awards name Wolfram Labs a finalist for “Best New Firm” in 2024 and awarded them the honor for “Best Company Rebrand” for work they did for one of their first portfolio companies.
In other areas
Sue is quoted often in the media as a political commentator and digital strategist. She has made regular appearances on CTV, the Canadian equivalent of CNN, and she was a regular panelist on NewsOne Now with Roland Martin. MIT Tech Review wrote, “Put simply, she’s a go-to person for companies and organizations determined to shape public policy.”
More than a decade ago, Sue founded DC Media Peeps, a networking group for public affairs, PR, communications, and creative professionals that now consists of more than 2,000 Peeps. Sue volunteers as the Communications Chair for RightNOW Women PAC, which helps fundraiser for women running for Congress.
She was previously an adjunct professor for digital strategy at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and served as a teaching assistant in Advanced Macroeconomics at Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy while obtaining her Master Degree in Public Policy. Her love of teaching originated at her undergraduate alma mater, University of Michigan, where she graduated with honors with a teaching certificate in secondary school mathematics as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Upon graduation, Sue taught Middle School Math at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohi0 where she also served as the Middle School Math Chair and 8th Grade Class Coordinator, planning annual school trips to Toronto and Washington, D.C.
Sue is currently pursuing her Executive MBA through the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
Sue is a lifelong Wolverine who bleeds Maize and Blue but considers Cleveland, Ohio her hometown and roots for the Cleveland Guardians and Cavaliers.
Background
Who knew that the effort to pass comprehensive health care reform in the early ‘90’s would become a pivotal event for Sue Zoldak? Here’s the story. While studying for her Master’s degree, Sue ran into the case study of “Harry and Louise” as part of her coursework. Intrigued by the fictional couple whose television ads are credited with launching the genre of advocacy advertising, Sue sought out the creator for an internship. Sue had one goal in mind – to learn about issue advocacy and marry her passion for advertising and public policy. The rest is history.
Rising quickly in her field, Sue went from intern to Vice President at Goddard Claussen in less than seven years. In the interim, Sue led award-winning teams of strategic and creative talent for clients in industries including pharmaceuticals, transportation, energy, education, health care, consumer electronics, and food and beverage. In 2009 and 2010, Sue’s stewardship of the “Harry and Louise” brand led her to manage two new ad campaigns as the public policy pop icons advocated for health care reform the second time around. Sue modernized Harry and Louise by launching Twitter and Facebook campaigns, resulting in a National Journal interview for the article, “Mystery of who tweets for Harry and Louise solved.”
Next, Sue Zoldak was a Senior Vice President at Adfero Group, a Washington, DC strategic communications firm. In that post, she led business development efforts and was a key member of the senior leadership team. During her tenure, the staff grew from 18 to over 30 team members. She led efforts for major trade associations, government contracts, and grassroots advocacy campaigns.
Sue earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. She earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, where she also completed the Teaching Certification program in Secondary School Mathematics. She considers Cleveland, Ohio her hometown but on college football Saturdays can be found wearing Maize and Blue while rooting for the Michigan Wolverines.
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Sue is one of the very best public affairs and advertising executives in the issue advocacy and social media arenas, both inside-the-beltway and nationwide.
/ executive director, digital advertising /
Experience
Co-founder & chief strategy officer, wolfram labs, 2023 – present
Founder & owner, the zoldak agency, 2016 – present
communications, rightnow women pac, 2015 – present
Founder and Hostess, DC Media Peeps, 2013 – present
public speaker, 2011 – Present
adjunct professor, george washington graduate school of political management, 2017 –2022
vice president, levick, 2014 – 2016
senior vice president, adfero, 2011 – 2014
vice president, goddard claussen public affairs, 2004 – 2011
Education
EXECUTIVE MBA, QUANTIC SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (MAY 2025)
Public Policy, MPP, georgetown university McCourt school of public policy
economics, ba, university of michigan
The Zoldak Agency is named Public Affairs Firm of the Year
/ 2018 Reed awards /
DC Media Peeps
Sue is the founder and hostess of DC Media Peeps, a networking event for DC area professionals in PR, strategic communications, publishing, advertising, marketing, digital, journalism, public affairs, non-profits, grassroots, advocacy, social media, etc. Sue started with just 40 people in her network and has now built the group up to over 1,400 members. She prides herself in making introductions and staying atop of trends in the advertising and digital space inside the beltway. To join or learn more, visit DCMediaPeeps.com.
About this website
Everyone should have a personal website
Sue strongly believes in having a living website as your resumé. No longer should your accomplishments fit on one sheet of linen paper. Sue built this website using Squarespace and is a Squarespace Circle Member. She is an expert in deploying a website in less than 24-hours for clients using this platform.