PA Press Club Luncheon – March 24, 2025

U.S. Congressman Glenn Thompson

PA-15th District

A life-long resident of Howard, Pa., Congressman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s Fifteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prior to being elected to Pennsylvania’s geographically largest congressional district, GT spent 28 years as a therapist, rehabilitation services manager, and a licensed nursing home administrator. Through his professional experiences, GT has touched the lives of thousands of individuals facing life-altering conditions. As a result, he has learned firsthand the importance of access to quality healthcare and has become a strong advocate for increased access, affordability, quality of care, and patient choice.

An Eagle Scout and 30+ year veteran of the Juniata Valley Boy Scout Council, GT has served as Scoutmaster, Council executive board member, and Council President. He has enriched the lives of youth throughout Central Pennsylvania. Among just 2,000 presented since 1969, GT received the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2012.

GT is also a former member of the Bald Eagle Area School Board, past vice-chair of the Private Industry Council of the Central Corridor, and a former Workforce Investment Board member. Because of these experiences, he was appointed to the House Committee on Education & Workforce in 2009. For more than a decade, Rep. Thompson has served as Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus. In the 115th Congress, Thompson introduced the Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act which passed the House and Senate unanimously and was signed into law by President Donald Trump.

A community leader and a volunteer firefighter with over three decades of service, GT is acutely aware of the challenges facing Pennsylvania communities. As Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and a senior member of the Education & Workforce Committee, GT is in a unique position to bring his expertise and knowledge to bear on the issues facing rural businesses, communities, and families, in order to improve the lives of the citizens of the Fifteenth District.

GT is a top speaker on the House floor, he views this as a responsibility to be a strong voice for the citizens of the Fifteenth District and an opportunity to influence the Washington legislative agenda.

GT is a proud graduate of Penn State and Temple Universities, where he earned a B.S. and a Master of Education, respectively. He and his wife, Penny Ammerman-Thompson, have three adult sons, Parker, Logan, and Kale, and two grandsons. GT and Penny reside in Howard, Pa.

 

PA Press Club Luncheon – February 24, 2025

Representative Malcolm Kenyatta

Democratic National Committee, Vice Chair

Representative Malcolm Kenyatta is a third-generation North Philadelphia native and legislator currently serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He earned a B.A. in Public Communications and a minor in Political Science from Temple University, an M.S. in Strategic and Digital Communications from Drexel University, and completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executives in State and Local Government program. In 2023, he was appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. Representative Kenyatta is a barrier-breaking public figure, becoming the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color and one of the youngest people elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018. In 2022, he became the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color to seek a U.S. Senate seat in American history. In April 2024, he made history again as the first openly LGBTQ+ person ever nominated for statewide office by a major political party in Pennsylvania when he became the Democratic nominee for Auditor General. In the general election, he earned nearly 3.1 million votes, the second-highest vote total for any Democrat on the ticket that year. In February 2025 he was elected as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Throughout his career, Representative Kenyatta has been a vocal proponent of protecting workers’ rights and rooting out government corruption and waste. He holds multiple legislative leadership roles, including as a member of the powerful State Government Committee with oversight of state agencies and elections, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Government Operations; Chair of the Financial Services and Banking Subcommittee in the Commerce Committee; and as a member of the Finance and Judiciary Committees. In 2020, he was chosen to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention alongside a group of other ‘Rising Stars, ’ and in 2024, he returned to the DNC as an individual speaker, continuing to represent the next generation of Democratic leadership. His groundbreaking political career and personal life have been the subject of two award-winning documentaries, including an Al Roker-produced feature-length film, Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn. Representative Kenyatta lives in North Philadelphia with his husband, Dr. Matthew Kenyatta, and their dog, Cleo.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, January 27, 2025

Mayor Ed Gainey

Mayor of Pittsburgh

Mayor Ed Gainey grew up in East Liberty and saw firsthand the economic hardships many families face in our city. Raised by a single mother, he counted on the support of his extended family and community to build a pathway to high school and college. Inspired to do the same for others, Ed Gainey discovered in college that an effective government can be a powerful tool to fight injustice and uplift communities. As a State Representative in Harrisburg he was on the front line fighting for working families, and as Mayor of Pittsburgh he’ll work everyday to make Pittsburgh a city where all can belong and contribute. Ed and his wife Michelle have three children and live in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, November 25, 2024

Chris Nicholas & Brittany Crampsie

Political Analysts – Post Election Review

A veteran, Republican political consultant, Christopher Nicholas is President of Eagle Consulting Group and a native of Bucks County. Chris recently produced and hosted a podcast on PA political corruption and this year launched a widely-read, twice weekly newsletter, the PA Political Digest.

Brittany Crampsie started a communications and campaign consulting firm in 2022 after serving as the Press Secretary for Senator Jay Costa and the PA Senate Democrats. Before that, the double graduate of Lehigh University also served as the Managing Editor at PoliticsPa.com, the state’s oldest political news site.