Excelsior, MN — Today, Rep.-elect Dean Phillips announced his Congressional office leadership team, which will commence once he is sworn in on January 3, 2019.
Phillips is adopting a dual Chief of Staff organizational structure, with one based in Minnesota’s 3rd District and the other in Washington, D.C.
Filling the Chief of Staff position in Minnesota will be Zach Rodvold, Phillips’s Campaign Manager, who previously worked in the state office of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone and served as U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s State Director from 2007-2009. Rodvold also worked for former House Speaker Paul Thissen and the House DFL Caucus from 2011-2017.
“I’m thrilled to continue on with Dean and to return to public service in a federal office,” said Rodvold. “I look forward to helping build an accessible team whose sole focus will be listening to, learning from and advocating on behalf of the people of the Third District.”
Filling the Chief of Staff position in Washington, DC will be Tim Bertocci, currently Deputy Chief of Staff to Congressman Tim Walz, for whom he’s worked since 2013. Prior to that, Bertocci, who is an Army veteran and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, worked for the State Department and the Department of Defense.
“I have gotten to know Minnesota well through my service with Congressman Walz, and I am excited to be able to work for the people of the Third District starting next year,” said Bertocci. “I’m ready to get to work with Dean and the new majority in Congress to make progress on the issues he ran on and the big challenges our country faces.”
Serving as Legislative Director to Rep.-elect Phillips will be Imani Augustus, currently Senior Legislative Assistant and Acting Legislative Director for Congressman Tim Walz. Augustus had previously served as a Staff Assistant, Legislative Correspondent and Legislative Aide in the Walz office, and is active with the Women’s Congressional Staff Association and the Capitol Hill Community Service Association.
“It will be an honor to serve as Dean’s Legislative Director,” said Augustus. “I can’t wait to get to work on government reform, tackling rising healthcare costs, addressing climate change and the other broadly-shared priorities of the Third District.”