Jon Costello.
Intelligence first. Advocacy second.
Jon Costello has spent his career in the rooms where Florida government decisions get made. He served as Legislative Affairs Director and Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Rick Scott, one of the most consequential staff roles in Florida state government, advising the Governor's office on policy, the legislative session, and the agency execution that followed. He came to that role from Scott's 2010 campaign and the transition team that staffed the administration.
He began his career as an acquisition program manager with the U.S. Department of Defense, on the buyer side of large government technology purchases. He went on to spend the better part of two decades as a registered Florida lobbyist, representing technology companies, national brands, healthcare organizations, telecommunications providers, trade and business associations, and local governments before the Florida Legislature and state agencies. His local government clients have ranged from Miami-Dade County, the largest in the state, to the Town of Melbourne Village, one of the smallest.
Costello is co-founder of GovMastery, national SLED advisory and training for companies serious about winning government business. He is the publisher of The Costello Brief. He taught political communication as an adjunct professor at Florida State University for over a decade, in the Master's in Applied American Politics and Policy program, and was twice appointed by Governor Scott to the governing board of the Northwest Florida Water Management District.
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Florida State University and lives in downtown Tallahassee.