July 20, 2026 • PPHC Talent

LPA Adds Digital Strategy Leader Sallie Poggi as Vice President

SACRAMENTO – Lucas Public Affairs (LPA), one of Sacramento’s most respected public affairs firms, announced the addition of Sallie Poggi to the leadership team as Vice President. Poggi joins LPA with over two decades of strategic communications experience spanning higher education, brand positioning, corporate communication and crisis management. In this role, Poggi will lead the firm’s digital strategy practice and will take senior responsibility for the firm’s market positioning and thought leadership. 
 
Poggi’s hire reflects LPA’s commitment to expanding its strategic capabilities at a moment when digital fluency and an understanding of cultural forces shaping public opinion have become essential to winning on policy and issues. Poggi’s unique combination of senior level media instincts and honed expertise in emerging platforms, creative content and audience insights adds depth to LPA’s capabilities to reach constituents in new and influential ways.

 “LPA is known for our deep relationships and traditional media savvy,” said Donna Lucas, CEO and Founder. “The addition of Sallie to our bench of strategists ensures that LPA is thoughtfully growing to meet our clients’ new and complex communications challenges with creativity and deep understanding of the digital landscape.”

Poggi was a trailblazer in social media strategy before it was a recognized discipline in public affairs — drawn to the platforms not because they were trendy, but because she was genuinely curious about how people form opinions, build communities and shape influence online. Her fascination with human behavior in digital spaces became the foundation of a practice that has since informed work for global executives, major commercial brands and for issues facing California’s most complex stakeholder groups.

Her work has spanned brand strategy, executive positioning, extensive crisis communications response and audience insight work across complex stakeholder environments. Most recently, Poggi served as Chief Communications Officer at the University of the Pacific. She also served as Executive Director of Strategic Communications at the University of California, Davis, where she directed communications strategy during periods of institutional change and led the university’s brand and leadership digital and social media presence to national recognition. Prior to UC Davis, Poggi worked at APCO Worldwide and at FleishmanHillard, two of the world’s leading strategic communications firms, building digital strategies for California businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

“I’ve spent two decades watching and learning from Sallie as she is both student and master of the digital landscape and how audiences respond and behave,” said Cassandra Pye, President of LPA. “This blend of LPA’s proven strategic capabilities with new age know-how positions us well to provide our clients with thoughtful and effective strategies.”