Hartford lobbying firm Kozak & Salina said it has added former Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Chief Strategy Officer Donna Hamzy Carroccia to its team.
Hamzy Carroccia joins Kozak & Salina after seven years at CCM, where she worked on policy strategies for all 169 Connecticut municipalities.
David Kozak, principal at Kozak & Salina, said Hamzy Carroccia brings with her an “unparalleled network” of policymakers, politicians and other professionals that will help strengthen the firm. The firm’s other principal Adam Salina said she brings with her “a foundation of collaboration and consensus-based decision-making” that will be helpful to the team.
A lifelong Connecticut resident, Hamzy Carroccia also previously worked as the manager for government and external relations at Frontier Communications.
In other recent moves, Kozak & Salina also announced this week the promotion of Elizabeth Gemski to senior vice president of government relations. Gemski first joined the firm in 2020, and has state-level experience working in three New England states. She also previously worked at the federal level in Washington D.C.
The changes at Kozak & Salina come on the heels of several shake-ups in Connecticut’s lobbying industry ahead of the 2024 legislative session.
In September, Avon-based lobbying firm Statehouse Associates announced that the Connecticut Business & Industry Association’s (CBIA) top lobbyist, Eric Gjede, would be joining the firm at the end of the year.
To replace Gjede, former Republican state legislator Chris Davis recently joined CBIA to lead the organization’s lobbying efforts
In November, law firm McCarter & English said longtime chief of staff to the Connecticut Senate Democrats Vincent Mauro Jr. would be joining the firm’s national government affairs practice this month.
