Our People

Joannie Braden, Vice President and Co-founder of RBI Strategies and Research, has been involved in politics for almost 30 years.  Since starting RBI with her husband, she has been integral to every aspect of the firm’s development. As managing partner, Joannie has oversight of all RBI operations, clients, projects, and marketing efforts.

Her expertise includes campaign strategy, voter contact, survey research, and budgeting. Joannie enjoys working with both candidates and non-profits, especially women’s reproductive health advocates and environmental groups.  She has worked closely with clients on ad creation, messaging and media placement. She has been involved in campaigns and campaign training programs in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Sweden.    

She is a yoga and fitness enthusiast, a discriminating coffee drinker, and an avid reader.  She has a working knowledge of Spanish and holds a B.A. from Bennington College.

Craig has been involved in the design and management of various issue and candidate campaigns throughout the United States.  Most recently, he served as Senior Advisor for Barack Obama’s Colorado campaign, which resulted in a resounding victory for the Democratic nominee in this battleground state.  Craig came to RBI after working as Eastern Political Director in the Clinton White House from 1998-2000. In that position, he supervised political activities for the President, First Lady, Vice President, and Mrs. Gore in twelve Eastern states. Craig was one of the earliest staff members hired for the Clinton for President Campaign in 1991, and subsequently worked for both Clinton/Gore campaigns as well as the Democratic National Committee. Through these and other positions, Craig has worked on or consulted for campaigns in over twenty states in every section of the country.  Craig was named a “Rising Star in Politics” by Campaigns and Elections magazine in 2000 and has been a featured speaker at political trainings, retreats and clinics, including seminars in Kenya, Uganda, and Brazil. He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Metro State University in Denver.

Tyler Chafee brings more than a decade of experience in progressive politics to RBI Strategies. Recently back from a leave of absence to serve as the Colorado State Director for the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, Tyler is an experienced campaign manager. Before joining RBI he served as a political advisor to Rutt Bridges and the Bighorn Center for Public Policy. Before that he spent several years working the labor movement as National Political Analyst for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and then the Political Director for the Colorado AFL-CIO. Tyler’s campaign management experience ranges from media and grassroots education funds to candidate campaigns. He worked in Diana DeGette’s 1996 race for Congress, and Dottie Lamm’s 1998 race for U.S. Senate. He also helped launch Bill Bradley’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1999, serving in the political department until Bradley’s concession in March of 2000.

Tyler also interned with the Colorado ACLU in 1995 and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington DC in 1997. This prompted him to take on an undergraduate honors thesis exploring the issue of environmental justice through a case study of the Globeville community in Denver, and their efforts against the ASARCO Corporation. He graduated with Honors from the University of Denver.