A closer kind
of partnership.

Jake brings experience in infrastructure development, business leadership and capital markets to his work with owners and investors. As an early executive at an energy company, he helped it grow into a global publicly traded company, leading public affairs and market development for projects across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. He helped establish a power-generation business that secured a ten-year government contract to manage 3.6 GW of generating capacity. He also led the public campaign that helped secure $250 million in public financing for an NBA arena. More recently, he served as CEO of an energy technology company and developed a data center program for a leading hyperscaler. He began his career in presidential campaigns and governors’ offices.

Ben leads Blacktop’s corporate affairs and special situations work. He helped build a privately held transportation infrastructure company, led its public launch and worked to secure federal, state and local approvals for its development. His public affairs and government relations work helped secure a $3 billion federal grant and authorization for $5.5 billion in private activity bonds. He also built and led a marketing and public affairs firm and has advised Fortune 500 companies, CEOs and sports owners. He has led communications and stakeholder strategy during complex restructurings and national crises. As a media strategist, he prepares leaders for consequential interviews and public appearances. His background spans dozens of sports assignments, three presidential campaigns and the White House.

Kellen helps Blacktop’s clients measure public sentiment, evaluate the political viability of their plans and leads campaigns to advance them. He has led more than 70 ballot and issue campaigns across 16 states, including measures supporting stadium construction and large-scale real estate developments. He has run campaigns at the national, state and local levels, overseeing strategy, teams and budgets through Election Day. Previously, he served as an executive at an organization that built and maintained a leading national voter data and analytics platform, gaining deep insight into local public sentiment and community engagement. He helped grow the platform’s user base by 400% and led an organizational merger. Earlier, he led strategy and communications for national advocacy organizations.