Gail N. Gitcho

Class of 2001: Communication strategies

As a top Republican consultant and a communications advisor, Gail Gitcho now heads The Gitcho Group, a communications and crisis consulting firm that provides services like crisis management, media relations, and executive coaching for corporations, startups, and political campaigns.

Gail Nicole Gitcho was born Nov. 15, 1978, and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Ripon is her father’s alma mater, and she majored in speech communications with a minor in leadership studies. She received Ripon’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2011.

After graduation, Gitcho received her master’s degree in political communication from Colorado State University. Her political career was launched when she served as press secretary for Colorado Republican House candidate Jeff Bedingfield.

Gitcho has more than 20 years of experience in corporate, political, and crisis communications for major American brands, national political candidates and startup companies.

She has worked on five U.S. Presidential campaigns and dozens of U.S Congressional campaigns during which she has given hundreds of network television and cable news interviews. Currently, she serves as an analyst for network, cable, and major dailies, commenting on developing political news.

Clients have included some of the biggest brands in the country across industries such as healthcare, health-tech, mental health, biotech, aerospace, food and beverage, disaster management, energy, and finance. Gitcho’s specialties include training and preparing candidates and executives for media interviews, speaking opportunities and debates; and counseling clients during crises, helping “to turn crises into opportunities while protecting and enhancing clients’ online reputations,” she said.

Ripon’s liberal arts education expanded her horizons and took her to where she is today, Gitcho said. “Ripon students receive a very well-rounded education. While Professor Jody Roy’s speech communication department played a defining role in my career path, graduate requirements allowed me to take classes that were outside my career interests — like Professor Jack Christ’s leadership studies, Professor Joe Hatcher’s psychology class and Professor Colleen Byron’s chemistry lab.

“I was also able to expand my opportunities by going off-campus two times — once for Urban Studies in Chicago and then again for an unbelievable experience during my semester in Florence, Italy. I will always be grateful for how I was challenged, pushed and required to go beyond the norm.”

Gitcho’s father, George Gitcho, is a member of the Class of 1967.