AEI Press Room

If you are interested in booking an interview with an AEI scholar, please email AEI media services at [email protected] or call 202.862.5829.

Meet the AEI Media Team

Phoebe Keller
Managing Director of Media Relations
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.420.0155

Phoebe Keller is the managing director of media relations at AEI, where she promotes the work of all AEI scholars and manages the press office.

Please contact her for media requests for AEI President Robert Doar and about AEI generally. For these and other media inquiries, including questions about scholars, studies, or research materials, please email [email protected] or call 202.420.0155.

Ms. Keller joined AEI in June 2018, after graduating from Cornell University. Before working for AEI, she interned in the Supreme Court’s public relations office and on the communications team at the Urban Institute.

James Desio
Deputy Director of Media Relations
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.821.8658

James Desio is the deputy director of media relations at AEI, where he works closely with Phoebe Keller, the managing director of media relations, to oversee the integration of social media into the work of the media team. In addition, he promotes the work of AEI scholars who focus on domestic policy, specifically education, poverty, agriculture, housing, tech, and energy.

Please contact him to schedule an interview with Ryan Streeter, who directs AEI’s Domestic Policy Studies department.

Led by Frederick M. Hess, AEI education scholars focus on K–12, higher education, and student loans. Scott Winship directs AEI’s poverty studies, where scholars work on safety-net programs, unemployment, economic mobility, income inequality, family structure and family economics, child welfare, foster kids and adoption, employment retraining programs, workforce development, reentry programs, and career and technical education, among other topics. Vincent H. Smith directs AEI’s agricultural policy studies, which focuses on the farm bill and subsidy programs. Edward J. Pinto directs the AEI Housing Center. Tech policy topics include 5G, artificial intelligence, digital privacy, cryptocurrencies, internet regulation, the Internet of Things, and telecommunications regulatory policy. Energy policy topics include oil prices and renewable and green energy.

To schedule an interview with a scholar in any of the above policy areas or obtain comments, studies, and research materials, please email [email protected] or call 202.821.8658.

Before joining AEI, Mr. Desio worked at IMGE, where he advised political campaigns on communications and digital strategy. He has a BA in history and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.

Brady Africk
Media Relations Associate
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.924.0784

Brady Africk is a media relations associate at AEI, where he promotes the work of AEI scholars who specialize in national security and foreign and defense policy (FDP).

Please contact him to schedule an interview with Kori Schake, who directs AEI’s FDP department. To schedule an interview with an FDP scholar or obtain comments, studies, and research materials, please email [email protected] or call 202.924.0784.

Mr. Africk joined AEI in 2021 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in political science and computer science.

Roberto Diaz
Media Relations Assistant, Economic and Health Policy
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.934.0185

Roberto Diaz is a media relations assistant at AEI, where he promotes the research of AEI scholars who specialize in economic policy studies, including the US economy, labor issues, taxes, the federal budget, Social Security and retirement issues, monetary policy, international trade, infrastructure, and financial services. He also promotes the work of scholars who focus on the economics of health care policy (including the COVID-19 pandemic), the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical policy (including COVID-19 vaccines), health insurance, and the various government programs dealing with these issues.

Mr. Diaz is the AEI contact for all media requests for Michael R. Strain, the director of economic policy studies at AEI, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb.

To schedule an interview with a scholar working on economic or health policy issues or obtain comments, studies, or research materials, please email [email protected] or call 202.934.0185.

Before joining AEI, Mr. Diaz worked as an AP government and AP microeconomics teacher for IDEA Public Schools in Texas. IDEA is a charter school network focused on student achievement and college readiness. Mr. Diaz has a bachelor of science in foreign service from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Sutton Houser
Communications Strategist
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.738.6556

Sutton Houser is a communications strategist at AEI, where he works closely with Phoebe Keller, the managing director of media relations, on the coordination of high-priority outreach initiatives within AEI. These include book promotion, podcast production, and social media strategy. To produce a unified outreach strategy, Mr. Houser coordinates operations among the various teams in the AEI communications department.

To contact Mr. Houser regarding any AEI podcast requests or for other questions, please email [email protected] or call 202.738.6556.

Mr. Houser joined AEI in August 2021 after graduating from Baylor University with a BBA in international business and entrepreneurship. He first joined AEI as the AEI media relations assistant for economics and health policy before becoming a communications strategist.

Carter Hutchinson
Media Relations Assistant
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.604.2181

Carter Hutchinson is a media relations assistant at AEI, where she promotes the work of AEI scholars in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies (SCCS) research division and scholars focusing on politics, public opinion, and education.

Scholars in SCCS study the foundations of self-government, American institutions including Congress, legal regulations and the Constitution, the administrative state, culture, political philosophy, and the state of American social, political, and civic life.

Ms. Hutchinson is the point of contact for all media requests for Senior Fellow and Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy Yuval Levin, who directs AEI’s SCCS department and is the editor in chief of National Affairs. She also promotes the work of AEI’s politics, public opinion, and education scholars.

To schedule an interview with an SCCS, politics, public opinion, or education scholar, or to obtain comments, studies, and research materials, please email [email protected] or call 202.604.2181.

Ms. Hutchinson joined AEI in 2023 after graduating from Davidson College with a BA in political science.

Greer Underwood
Media Relations Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.302.8635

Greer Underwood is the media relations coordinator at AEI, where she reports to the managing director of media relations, Phoebe Keller, and works to support and facilitate the functions of the media relations department.

Please contact her with requests to reserve AEI’s in-house TV and radio studios or for general information about the AEI press office. For these and other operational inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 202.302.8635.

Ms. Underwood joined AEI in June 2022 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a BA in philosophy and American studies. Before working for AEI, she interned at the Aspen Institute’s Intersector Project and as a media relations intern at the Cato Institute.

Veronique Rodman
Director of Public Affairs
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.862.4871

Véronique Rodman is the director of public affairs at the American Enterprise Institute, where she works with AEI scholars to promote their work. Before joining AEI, she was a longtime producer of “This Week” for ABC News. She also served as a consultant for the launch of Fox News Channel and Fox News Sunday.

In 2003–04 she served as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors — a nonpartisan, independent US agency that oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti (Cuban broadcasting), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television).

She studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris and has a BA from Rutgers University and an MS from Georgetown University.

About Our Studios

The American Enterprise Institute has full-service in-house broadcast facilities including a radio and TV studio.

Our TV studio utilizes VideoLink ReadyCam technology that allows our scholars to do both live and taped interviews in-house, facilitating quick responses to live TV interview requests and eliminating travel and scheduling challenges. The studio is also equipped with professional quality lighting, two electronic backdrops that allow for any number of backgrounds, and furnishings that can be arranged to fit the preference of any media crew.

AEI’s radio studio is outfitted with state of the art audio equipment, as well as Comrex broadcasting technology, and can be used for radio interviews, podcasts, and guest hosting of radio shows. The backdrop in the radio studio, a panoramic view of Washington, DC, makes the studio an alternative space for filmed interviews as well. In addition, our studio has the capability to transmit AEI event audio for radio via the Comrex system.

If you would like more information about our in-house studios, or are interested in booking an interview with an AEI scholar, please email AEI media services at [email protected] or call 202.862.5829.