Bradford Fitch, currently the vice president of client services at CQ-Roll Call Group, has been named president of the Congressional Management Foundation. Fitch will replace Beverly Bell, who has served as president of CMF since 2006.
Fitch, a New York native, has served in a number of capacities in and around Congress. He came to the District to finish a graduate degree in journalism at American University in the 1980s, then worked as a reporter for a small TV bureau on Capitol Hill.
He transitioned to a press secretary job in 1988, and over the course of 13 years he served as press secretary, legislative director and chief of staff in four Hill offices: Rep. Tom McMillen (D-Md.), the House Small Business Committee, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). In 2005, he co-founded Knowlegis, an online tool for advocates interacting with members of Congress, which the Roll Call Group bought in 2008.
Yet his most relevant experience may have been the five years he served as deputy director at CMF from 2001 to 2005, where he developed an interest in the center’s work to promote best practices in Congress. He remained in contact with Bell after he left, and she in turn recommended him for her job.
Fitch said that even after he left CMF, he continued to care about its mission.
“When I worked there for five years ... people would ask me, ‘How do you like your job?’” Fitch recalled. “I would always say, ‘I love it because it’s what I trained my whole life to do.’”
Fitch will start July 12, and Bell will remain as he transitions into leadership. Bell will look for a role in the private sector, preferably in government relations, she said.
As president, Bell oversaw the launch of CMF’s Partnership for a More Perfect Union, which fosters dialogue between Members of Congress and their constituents. She also coordinated the first live ceremony for the Golden Mouse Awards, which recognize the Hill’s best websites, earlier this year, and she was responsible for CMF’s first new edition of a guidebook of state and district offices in more than 10 years.
Fitch said he is just starting to come up with goals for his new position and looks forward to working with Bell and the board this summer.
“I want to continue the work that Beverly has started, especially the new project she created, the Partnership for a More Perfect Union,” he said.
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