Matt Briney

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library — Remote

Shaping the public-facing strategy of a presidential library before it opens — press and brand, membership and ticketing systems, exhibition digital components, and two AI products now running in production. A key member of the leadership team driving operational readiness in advance of opening.

• Led the development of an AI-driven, GPT-powered collections platform, working closely with collections and curatorial teams to improve access to and exploration of the Library’s collection.
• Built an AI-driven Google Ad Grant optimizer for the TRPL Foundation that crawls the institution’s sitemap, manages campaigns and ad variants via the Google Ads & GA4 APIs, and sustains a 16.46% average click-through rate (peak 25.78%) — more than 3× the Grant minimum.
• Led a daily historical storytelling initiative on Theodore Roosevelt’s life and legacy, tripling social media engagement while using performance data to inform interpretation and audience engagement.
• Led the selection of ticketing, e-commerce, and database systems, evaluating platforms for scalability, reporting capabilities, data integrity, and visitor experience.
• Direct and manage all press relations for the Presidential Library, overseeing an external agency and serving as institutional spokesperson while monitoring coverage, sentiment, and reach.
• Served on the leadership team responsible for developing the Library’s operations plan, including business and earned-revenue components, using benchmarking and planning data from peer presidential and cultural institutions.
• Established the Library’s membership and annual giving programs, defining value propositions and baseline metrics for acquisition, retention, and engagement.
• Advised exhibitions and interpretive teams on permanent exhibition development, with primary responsibility for shaping digital and interactive components informed by audience research and visitor experience.
• Oversee a documentary video team capturing the Library’s construction and development, producing interpretive and archival assets used for education, exhibitions, and public engagement.
• Developed and maintained an institution-wide talking-points framework covering construction, exhibitions, outreach, and Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy, ensuring consistency across leadership and partners.
• Built strategic partnerships with regional tourism organizations, government agencies, and education partners, using referral and participation data to assess impact and drive visitation.
• Implemented internal collaboration and communication tools for a fully remote, multi-city team, improving cross-department coordination, visibility, and operational readiness.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon — Mount Vernon, VA

Senior executive at one of the nation’s most-visited historic sites, on the leadership team for ten years and managing a $2.5M annual operating budget. Tripled annual website visitation (2.5M → 8M+), grew e-commerce 8× ($1.1M → $8.6M), and delivered the Thea Award–winning Be Washington theater.

• Led the website redesign, prioritizing content marketing and organic SEO to drive visitation — boosting the site from 2.5M to 8M+ annual visitors and 18M+ pageviews per year, and making it a self-funding part of the operating model.
• Grew e-commerce revenue from $1.1M (2015) to $8.6M (2021) — an 8× increase — through strategic initiatives, marketing, and a rebuilt online shopping experience.
• Directed end-to-end creation of the award-winning Be Washington interactive theater, a $3.5M, 36-seat capital project that won the 2018 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement — and built its acclaimed free online/classroom platform, used in schools across the country.
• Steered the end-to-end migration of Mount Vernon’s web and database platforms to Amazon Web Services (AWS), yielding a 35% reduction in operating costs.
• Produced the immersive virtual tour, reaching 4M+ visitors at an 18-minute average dwell — widely adopted in classrooms nationwide, with a VR port for Oculus and Google Cardboard.
• Executive Producer of award-winning short films — Yorktown: Now or Never, The Winter Patriots, A More Perfect Union, Washington’s War, and George Washington and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom — recipients of Telly Awards and distributed on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, and Curiosity Stream.
• Administered public-affairs logistics for high-profile VVIP visits, including President Biden, President Trump, King Charles, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Zelensky, ensuring seamless protocols and security arrangements.
• Revamped the estate’s membership pricing models to strengthen the value proposition, driving a 30% increase in new members within the first year.
• Replatformed and produced the estate’s audio tour on Guide ID’s Podcatcher Pro, replacing a $7 TourMate add-on with a free-with-admission tour of 53+ stops, 4+ hours of original podcast-style audio, and accessibility in five languages.
• Implemented a dynamic email revenue strategy, achieving a 38% increase through segmentation, A/B testing, and mobile optimization.
• Produced the Mount Vernon Explorer mobile app, putting an audio tour and on-grounds wayfinding in every visitor’s pocket.
• Edited Mount Vernon Magazine from Winter 2020 through Spring 2024 — the tri-annual print publication pairing long-form scholarship with donor stewardship for the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
• Created a groundbreaking augmented-reality tour on Epson Moverio smartglasses, produced with ARtGlass, making Mount Vernon one of the first U.S. historic sites with a regular wearable-AR visitor offering.
• Spearheaded development of a custom e-commerce platform for ticket sales, donations, memberships, and donor retention.
• Led brand management and the estate’s graphic design team, ensuring consistent visual identity aligned with organizational objectives.
• Directed content-marketing strategies that put numerous search terms within the top 2–3 organic results, and ad campaigns delivering a 3.9% average conversion rate.
• Played a pivotal role in adopting a centralized CRM system, overseeing integration across the estate.
• Oversaw external filming activities — production schedules, preservation of historic structures and objects, licensing, and logistics.

Edelman Public Relations — Washington, DC

Designed and ran Multiplier, Edelman’s proprietary Salesforce engagement platform — the firm’s largest client-facing technology investment to date — delivering engagement analytics across web, social, email, and offline work for 60+ client tenants and directing a global technical team for brands including HP, Microsoft, Hyundai, GE, Shell, and Pepsi.

• Implemented and managed various grassroots advocacy campaigns for a range of prominent organizations, including American Petroleum Institute, Pfizer, Microsoft, Walmart, Grocery Manufacturers of America, National Mining Association, Pepsi, Smarter Fuel Future, Embassy of Canada, Halliburton, Hilex, Episcopal Church, ASCD, and the National Health Council.
• Hired by HP CEO Meg Whitman to lead internal communications amid rapid leadership changes. Created HPNN, an internal news platform using native HP technologies.
• Headed development and deployment of a B2G (Business-to-Government) website for BlackBerry RIM, highlighting the robust security features of BlackBerry systems for secure government communications.
• In 24 hours, created an interactive tool using Multiplier technology to tackle Hyundai’s fuel economy miscalculation. The tool calculated MPG discrepancies by VIN, factoring in state-specific fuel prices, and allowed owners to file fuel reimbursement claims. Offered 120% cash value as fair compensation for misrepresentation, ahead of Hyundai’s EPA hearing.
• Oversaw end-to-end creation and execution of a secure, white-label internal project management system akin to Basecamp, tailored to facilitate collaboration on confidential client projects.
• Engineered a bespoke digital publishing system for Chevron, enabling safe and uninterrupted dissemination of information while prioritizing data confidentiality and employee privacy.
• Designed a user-friendly internal communications tool using Salesforce.com for seamless employee communication and collaboration within General Electric.
• Developed a cutting-edge popup event for a leading ride-share competitor, Taxi Magic, that facilitated seamless app-based ordering of conventional taxi cabs.

Emotive, LLC — Arlington, VA

Co-founded an interactive direct-marketing agency and grew it to $5.7M in annual revenue, providing strategy and digital fundraising to 40+ nonprofits, candidates, and trade associations — including the Pickens Plan, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, Californians for Schwarzenegger, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Republican National Committee.

• Executed digital fundraising campaigns for high-profile political figures, including Governors Schwarzenegger, Kasich, Green, and Haslam; Senator McConnell, Senator Bennett, and Senator Allen; the Republican National Committee; the National Republican Congressional Committee; the National Republican Senatorial Committee; and the Republican State Leadership Committee.
• Delineated growth verticals, created sales and marketing strategies, and managed product pricing and packaging for political, non-profit, and association-oriented products and services, leading to diversified revenue streams and enhanced market reach.
• Transformed open-source CRM system CiviCRM for political campaigns and contributed code upstream at a CiviCRM code sprint in New York — including a multi-threaded mailing enhancement (CRM-6835) that improved the platform’s email throughput for the whole community.
• Headed digital marketing for T. Boone Pickens’ Pickens Plan campaign, reducing US gasoline dependency. Managed a Super Bowl campaign with a live stream that attracted millions; the petition amassed 13M+ signatures, expanding campaign reach.
• Managed and maintained Emotive’s technology alliances with Blackbaud Sphere, Blackbaud Convio 360, and Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, ensuring seamless integration and technological advancements.
• Designed and executed marketing and fundraising strategies for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial capital campaign. Managed digital ticketing (VIP and public RSVP for the 2006 groundbreaking ceremony on the National Mall), distributed celebrity advocacy spots including Morgan Freeman’s “Build The Dream,” and raised $15M+ through digital outreach toward the memorial’s ~$120M total cost.
• Unified and spearheaded a multidisciplinary team comprising account managers, graphic designers, and web application developers, fostering a high-performing work environment.
• Amplified company’s annual revenue to $1.6M within a two-year timeline using robust growth and business acumen.
• Generated annual revenue of $5.7M through effective management and execution of business strategies.

American International Automobile Dealers Association — Alexandria, VA

DCI Group — Washington, DC

Virginia Tech — Blacksburg, VA

Minors in Communications, Graphic Design, and Humanities