WHEN YOU WORK WITH D&P, YOU WORK WITH THE CREATIVE HEART AND SOUL OF OUR COMPANY.
In 2004, we started D&P Creative Strategies as a journey to change hearts and minds. As a Latina, LGBTQ+, women, and veteran-owned strategic consulting firm, we deeply understand the need for inclusive and equitable advocacy. Armed with decades of experience and a zest for innovative, people-centered policy solutions, we set out to build a firm that highlights partnership, advocates for mutual benefits, and advances social justice.
Today, together with our expert team, we’ve made it our passion and our purpose to help our clients implement strategies that respond not only to their business needs, but also to the needs of the community.
MEET OUR TEAM
Ingrid Duran
Co-CEO & Founder
"D&P Creative Strategies is the realization of a dream to build a business that would enable us to give back, to empower, and to support the communities we care about, the Latino and LGBTQ. I love the team we’ve built, their passion, creativity, and amazing work ethic."
Vanessa Valdez
Senior Associate
Vanessa comes to D&P following years working on Federal policy in the United States Senate. She most recently served in the Office of Senator Jon Ossoff, where she staffed the Senator’s seat on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly focusing on immigration issues.
Catherine Pino
Co-CEO & Founder
"People, passion, and creativity are at the heart of D&P’s success: our incredible and fierce team (both past and present); our phenomenal clients; the many people we work with on Capitol Hill both staff and Members of Congress and Senators; and the countless passionate leaders from various stakeholders we work with throughout the country."
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Rita Castañon
Junior Associate
Rita Castañon joins the D&P team as a Jr. Associate after serving as a 2023 D&P fellow. Rita interned on the Hill through CHCI's Congressional Internship Program during the fall of 2021. She was placed in Representative Jamaal Bowman's office where she gained an insight into the legislative process. Born in Mexico City but raised in Morristown, Tennessee, Rita graduated from Carson Newman University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Psychology.
Lena Hernandez
SENIOR DIRECTOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS & ADMINISTRATION
"I owe most of my personal and professional growth to D&P. They have provided me a training ground unlike any other. When we get to bring our clients together with our community, it brings me profound joy. I know that the partnerships we work to foster will have a lasting impact on the community we live in. I believe I am doing my small part to leave the world a little better off than when I got here."
Karen Suárez Jiménez
Associate
"Karen Suárez Jiménez (she/her/ella) is a proud Indigenous Mexican woman from Oaxaca, Mexico. She is a first-generation college graduate, achieving summa cum laude from St. Norbert College before earning her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
PARTNERS
Through partnerships, D&P provides an expanded range of services, perspectives, and expertise to meet the needs of our clients. D&P is proud to partner with these dynamic organizations.
PRODUCTIONS
Part of our commitment to social justice includes moving the needle in how underrepresented communities are depicted in film and media. That’s why we started two production companies, Brown Beauty Productions and Free Mind Beauty: to challenge bias with authentic stories about the human condition, race, gender, sexuality, and identity in the United States.
BOOK EVENTS
An Evening with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Acclaimed Actress Rita Moreno
2013
On March 11, 2013, D&P organized “An Evening with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Acclaimed Actress Rita Moreno” at the Sidney Harmon Hall in Washington D.C. Through the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the Eva Longoria Foundation, D&P hosted an exclusive evening where these two powerhouse women discussed their journeys to success as revealed in their newly released books, My Beloved World and Rita Moreno: A Memoir.
Multi-Cultural Women’s Conversation with Sheryl Sandberg
2013
On March 14, 2013, D&P organized the “Multi-cultural Women’s Conversation with Sheryl Sandberg” in Washington D.C. The event featured Janet Murguia, President & CEO, UnidosUS, Karen Narasaki, Civil & Human Rights Leader, and Patricia Worthy, Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law in a conversation about Sandberg’s recent book, Lean In.
A Conversation with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Eva Longoria Bastón
2019
We were thrilled to bring two of our dear friends, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Eva Longoria Bastón, together on March 1st, 2019 for a community event to discuss the Justice’s children’s books based on her 2013 memoir, “My Beloved World.” Our firm, D&P Creative Strategies and our production company, Freemind Beauty, were honored to produce and host this amazing event to kick off Women’s History month with two wise Latinas.
