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STRATEGIES 360 STRENGTHENS OREGON TEAM WITH NEW LEADERSHIP

Portland, OR — Strategies 360 is pleased to announce new leadership in Oregon, along with the addition of former Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten as a senior advisor.

Amy Ruiz, an accomplished campaign and communications operative, will lead S360’s Oregon team. She succeeds Tim Raphael, who recently relocated to New Mexico to help grow the firm’s practice there. Dave Hunt, the former Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, will continue to lead the state government affairs team. Sten, who after leaving Portland City Hall founded and runs businesses devoted to solving persistent housing problems, joined the firm Feb. 1.

“Our senior team in Oregon brings an unparalleled breadth of skills and depth of experience to bear on helping S360’s clients achieve their objectives,” said Ron Dotzauer, founder and CEO of Strategies 360. “Oregon is a national leader on progressive ideas and policies, and this team can help our clients thrive in that environment.”  
Amy Ruiz brings the experience and leadership of a 15-year career in journalism, city policy, communications and campaign direction to her work for S360 clients, offering strong tactical and strategic counsel. In her tenure at Strategies 360, Amy has represented a diverse slate of clients on local transportation, technology, smart cities, housing and development issues.
Amy also leads the Oregon ballot measure practice, most recently directing the effort to defeat Measure 106 and protect reproductive health care. She also worked with Portland Public Schools to turn the 2016 lead in the drinking water crisis into an opportunity for voters to invest in our aging school infrastructure, paving the way for a successful $790M bond measure, the largest ever approved by Oregon voters.

Amy joined S360 after serving as deputy campaign manager and communications director for the Oregon United for Marriage Campaign. Previously, she served as chief of staff and communications director to Portland Mayor Sam Adams.
Dave Hunt brings a wealth of knowledge about Oregon’s public and private sector to his work for S360 clients. Dave leads Strategies 360’s Oregon state government affairs team. Prior to joining S360, Dave represented Clackamas County in the Oregon House of Representatives for a decade, serving as Democratic Leader, Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House.
Under his leadership, Oregon passed the historic 2009 Jobs and Transportation Act (JTA), expanded Healthy Kids health insurance to 90,000 uninsured children and 30,000 low-income adults, enacted new renewable energy and low carbon fuel standards to improve air quality, and created Oregon’s first Rainy Day Fund to protect services during recessions. Before joining S360, Dave served as President & CEO of the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition (PNDC), the association of over 300 Northwest defense and security industry businesses, and two port industry associations.
Erik Sten is a collaborative and strategic political leader, skilled manager and communicator who led Portland as it worked to build a vibrant city that meets the needs of all citizens. After leaving City Hall, he built a business that partners with government to address persistent problems using market mechanisms.
Erik is currently managing director of Centri Capital, a national impact investment firm that finances and manages a family of real estate investment funds. He is also founder and president of Further Development and Further Opportunity, two related private companies aimed at creating and executing entrepreneurial strategies to solve persistent housing problems.

From 1996 to 2008, Erik served in Portland’s unique form of government in which City Commissioners act as both policy makers and managers with executive authority over city departments. During his tenure, Sten led the city’s Bureaus of Housing and Community Development, Environmental Services, Fire and Rescue, Water, Emergency Management, Energy and Cable and Franchise Management.
About Strategies 360: With 20 offices in Oregon, 11 other Western states and Washington, D.C., Strategies 360 is the leading public affairs, communications, research, and marketing firm in the west. The firm also owns and operates its own in-house creative design and marketing practice, The Hilt. With experts drawn from the worlds of government, politics, the news media, quantitative and qualitative research, advertising, marketing and design, S360 crafts and executes the strategies that help clients succeed.