Client & Startup Consulting
CSG consults for real clients and startups, advancing their campaign strategy and government relations work while giving members practical, applied experience no classroom can replicate.
About CSG
WHAT WE DO
Professional Development
Industry-leading resources for members aiming at government relations, law, GPS consulting, policy analysis, or management consulting after Carnegie Mellon.
Speakers & Research
CSG hosts speakers from across the social and private sectors working in government relations, and builds research that widens access to net-positive, impact-oriented policy initiatives.
OUR PRACTICE AREAS
CSG runs two distinct practices side by side: campaign strategy for candidates and causes, and government relations for startups working through regulation on the way to market.
CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS
Voter targeting models, precinct-level field strategy, and cost-per-vote analysis built for campaigns that need to spend every dollar and volunteer hour where it actually moves a result.
What this looks like
- 1
Voter File & Propensity Modeling
Historical turnout and modeled persuasion scores, the same mechanic behind the interactive model on the Data & Analytics page, rank every precinct by who's actually reachable.
- 2
Field Strategy & Canvassing Turfs
Those rankings become an actual walk plan: which precincts get knocked, in what order, and by how many volunteers.
- 3
Message Testing & Budget Modeling
Survey instruments test language before it reaches a mailer or a script, and budget models turn a fixed dollar figure into a field, digital, and paid-media split built to hit a specific vote target.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS FOR STARTUPS
For early-stage startups building physical products in regulated industries, CSG tracks multi-state regulatory requirements and runs policy risk assessments before a market expansion, so compliance gets mapped before it becomes a blocker.
What this looks like
- 1
Legislative & Regulatory Tracking
Automated monitoring of relevant bills, hearings, and rulemakings across the state legislatures and agencies that touch a given industry, so a regulatory change shows up on a client's radar before it shows up in a headline.
- 2
Policy Risk Assessment
Mapping out what an existing or proposed rule actually means for a specific product or business model, before it becomes a blocker on the way to market.
- 3
Coalition Outreach & Roadmapping
Identifying which trade groups and legislative offices are already active on an issue, then turning it into a plain-English roadmap: what to comply with, what to watch, and what's worth a lobbying push.
MULTIPLE BACKGROUNDS.ONE TEAM.
Most political clubs recruit one type of thinker. CSG is built to need all four, and every track gets staffed on a piece of an actual client deliverable within the first semester. Scroll to move through them.
POLITICS & PUBLIC POLICY
Members track bills, map stakeholders, and write the memos lawmakers actually read before a vote. That work turns into testimony prep, coalition outreach, and the policy memos clients bring into the room.
Bill Tracking
Stakeholder Mapping
Policy Memos
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Members build the budget models and cost-per-vote matrices campaigns use to spend smarter, plus the SROI math nonprofits need for grant applications. The same modeling prices out canvassing plans and ad buys before a dollar moves.
Budget Modeling
Cost-Per-Vote Analysis
SROI
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Members architect the CRM, client intake pipeline, and databases that keep three engagements running at once without a gap. That infrastructure is what lets two core teams and a growing client roster operate without dropped handoffs.
CRM Design
Data Pipelines
Client Intake Systems
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Members ship the GIS targeting models, sentiment-tracking scrapers, and dashboards a field director can act on by Monday. Those are the same tools behind the propensity model on the Data & Analytics page, built and maintained by members, not licensed from a vendor.
GIS Mapping
Sentiment Tracking
Dashboards
Who We Are
EXECUTIVE BOARD
President & Managing Director
Zakareya Hamed
Bachelor of Science in Economics and Politics
LinkedIn
VP of Political Strategy
Sam Bigham
Master of Science in Public Policy and Management. Mayor of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
LinkedIn
VP of Campaign Affairs
Adam Kan
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
LinkedIn
VP of Professional Development
Staten Rector
Bachelor of Science in Economics and Politics
LinkedIn
VP of Finance
Mason Schultz
Bachelor of Science in Economics and Human-Computer Interaction
LinkedIn
WE TRAINOPERATORS
Membership is a track record, not a line on a resume. Staffing starts fast.
CSG would rather retain a strong analyst for four semesters than chase a flashy client list on the backs of members who leave after one.
Onboarding & Curriculum
A structured training track in research methods, policy writing, financial modeling, or data tools, matched to each member's discipline and taught by the members who came before.
Team Placement
Placement on Campaigns & Elections or Government Relations, matched to actual skill rather than seniority.
Live Staffing
Staffed on an active engagement within the first semester, with a director or senior analyst reviewing every deliverable before it reaches a client.
Leadership Track
Return as a team lead, then a director. Members who stay multiple semesters have a real, visible path to the top of the organization.
CLIENT FAQS
A few straight answers to the questions worth asking before bringing in a student-run team. For a more concrete walkthrough, see a sample client timeline stage by stage.
How does an engagement actually start?
Every engagement opens with an intake call to understand the ask, followed by a scoping phase where CSG defines deliverables and staffs the right team onto the project. A point of contact is assigned before work begins and stays in place through delivery, with a delivery cadence set at kickoff so there are no surprises about when to expect updates.
Who do we talk to once work is underway?
A named point of contact, not a rotating cast of members. That person owns the relationship end to end and is who a client reaches for status updates, changes in scope, or anything urgent, with a director staffed on the engagement for oversight.
How is our data and information handled?
NDAs are available on request for any engagement. Client and campaign data is stored in CSG's internal systems with access limited to the members actually staffed on that engagement, not the general membership.
Partner With Us
Ready to elevate your strategy?
Whether you are building a political campaign, launching an advocacy coalition, or scaling a non-profit initiative, our team is equipped to provide the data-driven insights you need to advance your objectives.
Interested in viewing a sample client timeline?