Drawing from his roots as a DC native immersed in the political landscape, Benjy Messner's lifelong interest in campaigns and technology has fueled his passion to shape the next generation of political analysts.

Messner is a seasoned professional when it comes to data, analytics, and emerging tech who brings years of experience and insights in his new role as lecturer at Columbia’s M.S. in Political Analytics graduate program. In his Big Data & Political Strategy course, Messner shows students how to combine massive amounts of data with political expertise to devise effective strategies.

Messner is also the founder of New River Strategies, a consulting firm that uses data, analytics, and technology to move people to action.  He has worked with Beto for America, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Justin Trudeau campaign, and numerous Fortune 100 companies to inform their operations with data.  He is a 2018 winner of the American Association of Political Consultants’ 40 Under 40 award and a 2017 winner of Campaigns & Elections’ Rising Star award.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University and a District of Columbia native.