Mary Irvine

Chief of Staff

Mary Irvine has extensive federal government experience and a long record as a senior-level leader in the non-profit, PAC, campaign, and advocacy arenas.

As a consultant for foundations such as the Wyss Campaign for Nature and The Atlantic Philanthropies and The Atlantic Foundation, Irvine provided strategic assistance, with a special emphasis on media and advocacy training. Irvine also was Executive Director for Legit Action Inc. (501c4 non-profit) and LegitPAC (a federally-registered PAC) which advocated for a legitimate democracy and supported like-minded candidates for office. She was Chair of the non-profit group, Progressives United, a 501c4 with a federal PAC arm, which was dedicated to highlighting over-reaches of corporate power and electing progressive candidates to office.

For nearly two decades, Irvine was Chief of Staff to United States Senator from Wisconsin Russ Feingold, a member of the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Budget and Intelligence Committees and a national progressive leader. Irvine was Chief of Staff on 9-11 and during the anthrax attacks of October 2001 and also played significant volunteer and staff roles in four of Senator Russ Feingold’s U.S. Senate campaigns. She was Chief of Staff for Feingold in the U.S. State Department when he served as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Irvine earned her Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree from Colorado College and holds a Master's degree in Political Science with emphasis in American Government from Villanova University.