Our Team

Marty Obst, founder and President of MO Strategies, is a prominent political and corporate strategist who has provided counsel to political figures and Fortune 500 companies across the country. 

 

With over 20 years of experience in Republican politics, Obst has served on leadership positions on over 80 federal and statewide campaigns, and is nationally respected as a Republican strategist, fundraiser, and trusted advisor.

 

Obst has served in Senior leadership roles in the 2016 and 2020 Trump for President Campaigns, as well as Senior Political Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. In addition, he was Deputy CEO of the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, Indiana Finance Chair for President Donald J. Trump, National Finance Committee for the Republican Governors Association, and Senior Advisor to Indiana Senator-elect Jim Banks.

 

In addition, Marty and the team at MO Strategies have represented dozens of corporate clients, ranging from Fortune 500 Companies to Venture Capital-backed start ups. With long experience working at the Federal and State levels, MO Strategies has delivered results in a wide range of policy areas. 

 

Obst served on Beta Theta Pi's National Foundation Board, and is a Cabinet Member of the Build a Bridge Capital Campaign, and serves on the Riley Children's Foundation Board.

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A native Hoosier and 13-year veteran advising elected officials in the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch, Goad leads MO Strategies' advocacy and engagement efforts for education and school safety related clients.

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Prior to joining M/O Strategies, Goad served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. In this role, he served as the Department’s primary liaison to Members of the United States Senate and their staffs. He also developed a strategy to expeditiously advance the Acting Secretary through the confirmation process and implemented a process to help prepare the Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary for congressional hearings.

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From 2016-2020, Goad worked in the White House as a Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. He served as policy lead on education, combating gun violence, and school safety policy issues. In addition, he served as the White House’s lead policy staffer on the President’s Federal Commission on School Safety.

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Goad previously served on the Presidential Transition Team as the education lead for policy implementation for then President-Elect Donald Trump’s education policy agenda. Prior to developing education policy for the President-elect’s 2016 campaign,Goad served as a Senior Policy Advisor to House Policy Committee Chair Luke Messer focusing on education issues. He also played a pivotal role advancing school choice policies as Director of the Congressional School Choice Caucus.

Matt Huckleby serves as Vice President for MO Strategies. He provides political and government affairs consulting, building on relationships and skills he has built over the past two decades. Prior to joining MO Strategies in 2023, he served as Executive Director of the Indiana Republican Party and as Deputy Campaign Manager for Eric Holcomb for Indiana. Throughout his career, he has overseen and advised political operations for campaigns for Governor, Congress, State Legislator, and local office. His primary areas of focus include operations, political and field efforts, and data analytics.

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He is still actively involved with the Republican Party, serving as Lawrence Township Chairman for the Marion County Republican Central Committee. Prior to joining the State Party, Huckleby served as political director for Eric Holcomb for Indiana and Mike Pence for Indiana and as district director and campaign manager for Congressman Larry Bucshon.

 

Huckleby is a graduate of Indiana State University with a degree in Political Science, and lives in Lawrence with his wife Mallory.

Dan Kowalski serves as Vice President, providing clients with strategic consulting and advocacy services informed by decades of senior-level experience in federal fiscal policy and government leadership.

 

Dan most recently served as Executive Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Prior, he was a Special Advisor to the Secretary of Finance to Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, where he advised on budget and tax matters.

 

In the first Trump Administration, he was Counselor to the Secretary at the US Treasury Department, where he advised Secretary Steven Mnuchin regarding Treasury’s efforts to drive the Trump Administration’s domestic policy agenda, and was the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award.

 

Kowalski has also worked on Capitol Hill as Deputy Staff Director of the Republican Senate Budget Committee and as Director of Budget Review for the Republican House Budget Committee.  He earned a MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.  

Abbie DeKramer serves as a Government Relations Coordinator at MO Strategies, providing direct operational and strategic support to the firm’s President and supporting client engagement across the firm’s advocacy and government relations work. Her role includes managing executive scheduling and prioritization, coordinating logistics, and ensuring effective preparation and follow-through across internal and external engagements.

 

Prior to joining MO Strategies, DeKramer worked in the United States Senate in the Office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune. There, she supported leadership and legislative operations, coordinating high-level meetings with senior congressional, executive branch, and external stakeholders, and assisting with tracking and executing leadership priorities.

 

At MO Strategies, DeKramer supports client communications and relationship management, prepares briefing materials, coordinates meetings and client visits, and assists with conferences, offsite, and special events. She also supports office operations and internal coordination across the firm.

 

DeKramer is based in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, with a concentration in security policy.