Experience

Capitol Hill. Wall Street. Political Campaigns. Corporate Communications.

Each venue presents its own brand of unique communications challenges. Each demands the ability to identify a clear strategic direction and create effective messages that resonate.

For 15 years, Rob Ostrander has honed his skills as a writer and strategist helping U.S. Senators, CEOs, senior corporate executives and political candidates communicate in the toughest environments.

Rob has ghostwritten articles and op-eds that have appeared in prominent newspapers from Investor's Business Daily to the New York Daily News. The speeches he's written for prominent public figures have been covered by papers ranging from the New York Times to the Washington Post to influential industry trade publications.

Most recently, Rob served as chief speechwriter at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, where he helped create and implement strategic corporate messaging efforts targeting diverse audiences including the domestic and international financial community, U.S. Congress, top federal agency officials and global financial media.

Rob wrote and managed all external and internal CEO communications to 5,100 FINRA-member financial firms and 3,000 FINRA employees, served as editor for the annual report and corporate brochures and developed interactive scripts for nationwide investor education forums.

As a member of the NASD-NYSE integration team, Rob managed key components of FINRA's executive communications program aimed at educating financial markets, the media and the investor community during the landmark NASD-NYSE regulatory merger. He also created and developed corporate-wide talking points to ensure message consistency.

Prior to FINRA, Rob held senior communications posts on Capitol Hill and high-profile political campaigns.

In 2004, in a crucial swing state during a Presidential election year, Rob served as Communications Director to Senator Kit Bond of Missouri, overseeing all media operations on Bond's successful campaign for a fourth term in the United States Senate.

As press secretary to Congresswoman Sue Kelly of New York, Rob spearheaded communications operations for two successful reelection campaigns and led an aggressive media and coalition-driven campaign to ensure safe operations at a local nuclear power plant outside of New York City.

He also served as a senior communications advisor to Rep. Kelly during her tenure as Chair of the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations subcommittee and its inquiry into the research analyst and accounting scandals of the early 2000s.

Rob began his career as deputy press secretary to former New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato during high-profile, politically-charged Senate Banking Committee hearings and managed press efforts in the New York City media market during a tough reelection campaign.

Rob graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism with a master's degree in journalism and earned an undergraduate degree in history from the State University of New York at Albany.