Revolution Messaging

Scott Goodstein stepped down as Revolution Messaging’s CEO in 2018. Several staff members also departed the company. As of 2026, Revolution Messaging’s website was no longer active. The group has not posted to its Instagram account since 2019. ^{4  5  6}

Background

Revolution Messaging was founded in 2009 by Scott Goodstein, a Democratic Party activist and political consultant who previously had founded several digital-campaign organizations such as the European consultancy CatalystCampaigns. ⁷

Following his experience as the external online director for Obama for America during then-U.S Sen. Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, Goodstein founded Revolution Messaging to use social and digital media to connect Democratic campaigns to voters. ⁸

Political Activity

Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaigns (2016 and 2020)

Revolution Messaging was contracted in 2016 to assist the Democratic presidential primary campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ⁹ After hiring Revolution Messaging, the Sanders campaign raised over $3 million in small-dollar donations in four days. ¹⁰ The Sanders campaign ultimately earned $218 million while using the digital services of Revolution Messaging. ^{11  12}

During the 2016 election year, Revolution Messaging made most of its revenue from its services to the Sanders campaign. Out of the $33.8 million in payments the firm reported that year, $28.7 million came from the Sanders campaign. ¹³

In 2020, Sen. Sanders hired Revolution Messaging again, paying the firm $1,205,548 for campaign consulting and digital media strategy. ¹⁴

Bill de Blasio New York City Mayoral Campaign (2017)

In September 2016, the New York Times reported that then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) had hired Revolution Messaging to help raise funds for his 2017 re-election campaign. Tim Tagaris, one of Revolution’s partners, claimed that their small-dollar campaign would focus on New York City residents. Revolution Messaging also used the list of names that was created from the donors to help garner post-election support for de Blasio’s policy agenda. ¹⁵

Texas Senate Campaign (2018)

For the 2018 Texas Senate election, then-U.S. Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX) purchased the services of Revolution Messaging against his competitor, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Between the start of O’Rourke’s campaign in March 2017 and the election in November 2018, he paid Revolution Messaging $24.2 million. ¹⁶

DCCC Blacklist

In 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced it would not do business with consulting firms who worked with primary challengers to Democratic U.S. Representatives. In response, Revolution Messaging joined over 30 campaign consulting firms to form “DCCC Blacklist,” a website founded to oppose the DCCC’s policy and provide Democratic primary challengers a database of vendors and consultants who would help manage their campaigns. In 2021, the DCCC reversed its policy. ¹⁷

Campaign Donations

Since its founding, Revolution Messaging’s individual members and employees have issued $95,565 in donations to political campaigns. In 2024, the leading recipient was then-Vice President Kamala Harris (D), who received $604. ¹⁸

Workplace Controversies

Complaints about Work Culture

According to a 2018 BuzzFeed report, employees described Revolution Messaging’s workplace culture as “toxic,” citing Scott Goodstein’s poor management style, fear of retaliation, and a lack of clear organizational processes. Employees said his management and communication style was aggressive and unpredictable. In late 2017, three employees filed human-resources complaints against Goodstein, including one female employee who filed a 26-page complaint alleging that his communication style disadvantaged women. She later expanded her complaint to include allegations of gender discrimination. ⁴

The company hired an outside firm to investigate the claims. Its March 2018 findings partially substantiated concerns about Goodstein’s management and communication but did not substantiate the gender-discrimination allegation. ⁴

Sexual Assault Allegation

In early 2018, the HuffPost reported on a 2015 incident in which Revolution Messaging partner Walker Hamilton allegedly assaulted a female employee at a company holiday party. Hamilton left the company immediately. The female employee subsequently left the company, and several remaining employees believed her departure may have resulted from retaliation by Revolution Messaging leadership. ^{4  12}

Following the report, 42 employees anonymously sent management a letter requesting greater accountability and concrete action concerning the company’s culture and treatment of women and minorities. Goodstein responded with proposed sexual-harassment and discrimination training, a diversity review, and regular meetings with employees. ^{4  12}

Unionization

In March 2018, shortly after the HuffPost report, Revolution Messaging employees formed a union, which a BuzzFeed report claimed to be the first union at a digital firm. Employees established a diversity, equity, and inclusion task force and organized workplace events and discussions. Revolution Messaging management said it was making progress toward collective bargaining and promised additional workplace reforms. ^{4  12}

The company subsequently announced expanded benefits, including fully covered health insurance; however, employees later criticized the health plan’s high deductible. In late May, employees staged a sit-in at the Washington headquarters to question management about the benefits plan and broader workplace issues. Revolution Messaging acknowledged the problem and said the benefits issues had been corrected. ^{4  12}

Staff Departures and Goodstein Resignation

At least 27 employees left Revolution Messaging or gave notice during the six months preceding the BuzzFeed report. Among the departures were senior fundraising executives Tim Tagaris and Mike Nellis. The campaigns department, which had helped raise more than $218 million for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), lost several major accounts and was substantially reduced. The company also lost clients, including former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), who moved to a competing firm shortly before the report was published. ⁴

In June 2018, Goodstein announced that he would step down as CEO but remain a partner. Keegan Goudiss became interim CEO while the company searched for a permanent replacement. The report claimed Goodstein’s departure and the continuing staff turnover as part of a broader organizational overhaul in which employees believed that the company had failed to align its internal practices with its stated left-of-center values. ⁴

People

Scott Goodstein

Scott Goodstein was the founder and later CEO of Revolution Messaging in 2009 after working as the external online director for then-Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) 2008 Presidential campaign. Prior to 2008, Goodstein founded the consultancy CatalystCampaigns while attending American University in 1995. As of 2026, Goodstein was working as CEO of CatalystCampaigns. ^{19  20}

In 2016, Goodstein founded Creative Majority PAC specifically for “the creative class, run by and for artists, musicians and writers.” ²¹ The PAC spent $20,000 on messaging opposing the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. In 2018, the PAC paid $467,000, more than half of its revenue, to Revolution Messaging. ³

In June 2018, Goodstein resigned from his position as CEO of Revolution Messaging while retaining a position as partner with the company. ²² While he had stated in an email to the staff that he was leaving to create room in leadership for the growing organization, Goodstein’s resignation happened at the same time Revolution Messaging was dealing with several controversies. Revolution Messaging employees sought to unionize against the reportedly poor internal culture set by the firm’s management. ²³ The leadership at Revolution Messaging had allegedly tried to punish a female employee after she reported that she was sexually assaulted by a coworker. ¹²

Shauna Daly

Shauna Daly was the senior vice president of Revolution Messaging from March 2014 to January 2016. Prior to that, she worked with Scott Goodstein during the 2008 Obama presidential campaign as a deputy research director. ²⁴ Daly also worked as a research director and senior advisor for the Democratic-aligned PAC American Bridge 21st Century. ²⁵

Keegan Goudiss

Keegan Goudiss was a partner and head of advertising at Revolution Messaging. Before joining the firm, Goudiss worked at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) as well as creating Vox-P Media. ⁹ Goudiss was also listed as the treasurer for Goodstein’s Creative Majority PAC. ²⁶

Dae Levine

Dae Levine worked as the senior vice president of Revolution Messaging beginning in July 2017 and managed and worked with clients on the West Coast as well as internationally. After graduating and becoming an adjunct professor at Columbia University, Levine was a director of Media Relations at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, head of communications at Greenpeace in Australia, and stayed in Australia to become a managing director at the left-of-center Republic of Everyone. She previously founded and ran her own consulting firm in Australia, Dae Levine Consulting. ²⁷

Funding

Revolution Messaging makes revenue from payments it receives as a vendor to political and advocacy campaigns. Notable payments include $28.7 million from Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) 2016 presidential primary campaign, $24.2 million from then-U.S. Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke’s (D-TX) 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, and another $13.4 million from other Democratic groups. At least $467,000 comes from the Creative Majority PAC, also founded by Scott Goodstein. ³

The firm received payments of $985,000 and $1.6 million from then-U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), respectively, in the 2018 election cycle. It also received $55,000 from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and was paid by Democratic political action committees such as Giffords PAC, MoveOn Political Action, and End Citizens United PAC. ²⁸

Revolution Messaging also received payments from Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, then-U.S. Rep. Karen Bass’s (D-CA) 2020 U.S. Senate campaign, and the Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee. ²⁹