Gateway Strategic Solutions (GSS) provides competitive intelligence, public policy strategy, and crisis communications support to businesses, political campaigns, interest groups and public affairs clients around the world.
Sean Sullivan, the founder and principal of GSS, has been advising high-profile corporate, political and public affairs clients for more than twenty years. Sean and the GSS team bring together experience in tech, real estate, law, finance, and politics to deliver timely, actionable research for clients in a wide range of industries. GSS excels at complex projects with tight deadlines. Sean and the team at GSS work closely with clients to help them develop follow-up plans and to deploy findings in the most effective channels.
Whether the project involves an industry rival, a political opponent, or a legal adversary, our clients trust us to act decisively and discreetly to give them a critical edge in a competitive situation.
Sean Sullivan has more than 20 years of experience advising on high-profile political, public affairs and public policy issues for businesses, political campaigns, and interest groups.
Sean began his career in opposition research in 1999, and has helped elect and defeat dozens of candidates at every level of politics across the United States, including campaigns for President, Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. Congress. Over the years, Sean’s political clients have included Senator Barbara Boxer, EMILY’s List, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Sean's research findings have led to news stories in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among many other news outlets.
In the business sector, Sean has helped businesses navigate complex public affairs issues in 46 states and 19 countries. Sean’s business clients include tech companies, law firms, real estate developers and hedge funds.
As a senior member of Airbnb’s global public policy team, Sean built a global research department that developed data-driven press stories on Airbnb’s positive impact in local markets, provided competitive intelligence on Airbnb’s rivals around the globe, and tracked the impact of Airbnb’s policy-focused media campaigns. Using his research, the company deployed earned- and paid-media content that improved its reputation with regulators while also building interest among the company’s current and potential users.
Sean is a graduate of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois and Deep Springs College in Deep Springs, California.
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