Meet Brandon Blumenherst, NGP VAN content marketing specialist
At NGP VAN, we’re proud to have a dedicated team of organizers, activists, and campaign professionals who have worked to advance the progressive movement for decades. We chatted with Brandon Blumenherst, our content marketing specialist, about how he started his career in political communications and what inspires him to keep fighting for a better future.
What was the first political memory you have?
I remember waking up and going to school like any other day. Then, in the middle of my 7th grade history class, our teacher looked at her computer and stopped her lesson. In a very calm and comforting voice, she informed us that there was a school shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school. She said, “I just felt like I had to tell you all because school could look very different tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year.”
The Sandy Hook shooting was the first formative memory where politics became real for me. That was in 2012, and I still feel the same frustration at the inaction from our elected officials. And that’s when I started to realize that I couldn’t just talk about making change — I had to be an active agent to make it happen.
What was it like working on your first political campaign?
On the day of my high school graduation, I went straight from the ceremony to the introductory meeting for the first campaign I’d ever work on (with my cap and gown in the back seat). I worked on that campaign for nearly two years doing everything an intern-turned-communications-assistant could do. I helped wherever I could — from serving as the chauffeur and body person for the candidate to conducting donor research and entering data into NGP to building out content calendars and writing fundraising appeals. It was my first job in politics, but it gave me a broad understanding of everything that needed to be done on a campaign.
What else did you do before joining NGP VAN?
Toward the end of the 2018 cycle, I got the chance to serve as the campaign manager for one of the most competitive state legislative races in Indiana. With the help of a small group of volunteers, we knocked on thousands of doors in the last two months of the election cycle and moved the race seven points closer to a Democratic win. I supported our coordinated municipal campaign that re-elected our mayor for a fourth term and flipped two city council seats blue in 2019. The same candidate I worked for in 2018 ran again in 2020, and I served as his campaign manager again, helping him raise over $150,000 for his race and knocking over 10,000 doors while navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic. While we ran a great race, we came up just short with 48% of the vote.
After the end of that cycle, I graduated college and went to work for a nonprofit health system in their marketing and communications department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I served as their social media accounts manager, helping gather and share helpful, engaging, and inspiring content to our followers on a consistent basis amidst the fear and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. After being promoted to be the senior marketing and communications specialist, I led our team to execute major marketing projects and campaigns. In this role, I had the opportunity to hone my marketing skills while continuing to work and stay involved with local and statewide Democratic campaigns and organizations.
When did you join NGP VAN and what’s your role?
In early 2022, I joined NGP VAN as the content marketing specialist. In this role, I plan and write content for brand and go-to-market campaigns across multiple channels — from helpful guides to engaging email newsletters to impactful case studies and more. I also manage our company’s social media accounts, so I make the most of timely social media trends, interact with our customers online, and help create a more engaging social media presence for the company.
What does it mean for you to work at a company that has been (and continues to be) integral to the success of so many historic victories across the country?
I’m continually inspired by the victories we hear about across the country. From protecting and enshrining access to reproductive rights to flipping seats up and down the ballot to organizing new worksites and industries, it’s always motivating and inspiring for me to hear about the immediate impact of these victories. But the real impact comes later — when legislators start their first session, when laws and ballot measures take effect, when unions get their first contracts. Working at a company that powers nearly all these impressive victories helps me understand and visualize that a better future is possible — we just have to work hard to make it a reality.
