About Athanor
Athanor Public Affairs aims to help organizations harness the power of digital and traditional communications to achieve
their policy and public affairs goals. We will help you build coordinated campaigns that maximize the impact of your communications efforts.
Athanor will deliver first class public affairs, media affairs and broader communications service and use proven effective, clear and relatable messaging that has the desired impact on your target audiences.
Our History
Athanor Public Affairs was founded in 2023 to help clients turn sometimes leaden advocacy communications into gold.
That catchphrase originates from a profound and nostalgic place for founder and CEO Dan Whitten. His father, Les Whitten, wrote a book called The Alchemist in 1973 that features a furnace used by alchemists to turn lead into gold. The furnace is called an athanor. Athanor’s Public Affairs team will work tirelessly to craft gold-standard campaigns and communications efforts on your behalf.
Athanor brings a unique expertise to climate and energy advocacy and can help you fight tough federal and state policy battles. We work with a network of experts and first-class talent to tell your story to targeted audiences and create multi-media communications efforts that serve your business needs.
Dan Whitten has more than three decades of media and public affairs experience in the energy and climate field. Dan spent 17 years breaking stories on energy, climate, transportation and trade for Bloomberg News, Platts and others. For the last 13 years, he has run communications and public affairs shops for America’s Natural Gas Alliance and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Dan started Athanor Public Affairs to help clients make the connection between what they want from their business and how they can use communications and public affairs to support business goals. The process is always to define business objectives, create a strategy for achieving goals, and then execute on that strategy with creativity, determination and leadership.
our team
JIM
OWEN
Jim is a seasoned communications professional with a deep background in energy and environmental policy.
For more than 25 years, Jim served in senior communications and membership strategy roles at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents all the U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, including ITC.
Jim directed EEI’s membership programs, including the board of directors’ and annual meetings, and led outreach to member company senior leadership, strategic partners and industry stakeholders.
Jim managed EEI’s communications and media relations on a wide range of public policy issues and served as chief spokesman. Over the years, he helped steer the association’s media outreach during high-profile and contentious policy debates, including industry deregulation, climate change and the clean energy transition.
ELLIE
SILVER
Ellie has more than a decade of experience in marketing and communications where she has been responsible for developing and executing integrated communications strategies, including media, social media, website and blog content, and email and brand marketing.
Ellie served as communications director at the Alliance to Save Energy and implemented a cross-departmental approach to the organization’s communications, launched policy campaigns, and created best practices for internal and external marketing.
Ellie has a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Government from American University.
PETRA
HOKE
Petra Hoke is a dynamic communications professional with over 6 years of experience in the solar industry, specializing in a diverse range of skills from graphic and website design to traditional communications.
Petra has spent the majority of her career at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), leading various elements of the organization’s digital and brand strategy. She played a pivotal role in shaping SEIA’s brand identity, and executed multiple high-visibility campaigns that helped achieve various policy objectives, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
Most recently, she led a comprehensive redesign of SEIA’s website, which included an overhaul of the UX design, an updated menu structure, and a complete transition to a new operating system.
From crafting visually engaging websites to developing user-centric designs, Petra excels in creating seamless digital experiences. As an experienced graphic design professional, she ensures that every visual element aligns with overarching brand strategies. With hands-on experience in social media strategy, video production, and traditional communications, Petra is adept at managing integrated campaigns that resonate with diverse audiences.
Petra graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public relations & strategic communications from American University in Washington, DC.
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