Policy Director Susie Wiles

Susan Summerall Wiles is an accomplished communications, government relations and political professional with more than twenty-five years of experience managing government and public affairs endeavors.

As a Principal in Right Coast Strategies, Ms. Wiles works with clients in Jacksonville, around Florida and across the nation. Ms. Wiles managed Governor Rick’s Scott’s successful campaign for Governor and is also the Managing Partner of the Jacksonville office of Ballard Partners, one of Florida’s most successful lobbying and public affairs firms.

Ms. Wiles was the executive director of Horizon Political Action Committee, a committee designed to identify and elect common sense conservatives across America and also served as Governor Jon Huntsman’s first national campaign manager.
Ms. Wiles has led initiatives at the highest levels of local government in Jacksonville, Florida as a senior appointee of three Mayors. She served as Chief of Staff to former Mayor John Delaney and served as Communications and Special Initiatives Chief for Mayor John Peyton. Her responsibilities included management of public-facing functions and personnel and also included strategy and implementation of such significant initiatives as the Preservation Project Jacksonville, a comprehensive plan to acquire land for conservation and to prevent further sprawl; for The River Accord – a partnership of public agencies designed to restore the health of the St. John River which was designated by the President of the United States as an American Heritage River; a collaborative effort - RALLY Jacksonville! – A targeted, first-of- its-kind program to provide early learning and early reading skills to preschoolers; The Better Jacksonville Plan, a $2.5 billion capital projects and infrastructure Bond program approved by the voters in 2000 and The Jacksonville Journey – a city-wide mobilization of leaders and subject matter experts designed to curb Jacksonville’s violent crime epidemic.

Ms. Wiles represents clients in the areas of coalition building, strategic media relations, political campaigns, environmental permitting, grassroots activism, direct marketing, crisis communication and transportation. She has managed and held senior roles in numerous political campaigns at the federal, state and local levels. She serves as interim executive director of the Jacksonville Civic Council, a group of Jacksonville’s most engaged business and civic leaders.

Ms. Wiles has been recognized nationally as one of the best communications professionals in Florida and has been the recipient of numerous awards in the fields of organizational leadership and communications.  She was recently cited in 904 Magazine as on of Jacksonville’s 50 most influential people and the Florida Times Union’s Most Influential in November of 2011, as well as recognized as one of the top five political professionals in Florida by Campaigns and Elections magazine in 2012.