Founder + CEO

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For nearly four decades, Lissa Druss has built a national reputation as a public affairs strategist and crisis management leader, shaping high-stakes narratives and advising organizations at defining moments. She is a nine-time Emmy Award-winning television journalist, Founder & CEO of Strategia Consulting, a Certified AI Instructor, and serves as National Government Relations and External Communications Director for Riot Hospitality Group, a Scottsdale-based national hospitality company.

Lissa spent 21 years in television news and sports, primarily with CBS, before serving as executive producer launching Comcast SportsNet networks in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, and New York. Her work spans news, entertainment, and sports, covering pivotal events including the Persian Gulf War, Oklahoma City bombing, O.J. Simpson trial, Chicago Bulls championship runs, and national and local elections. She received the 2009 Chicago Journalism Award in Sports.

In public affairs and communications, Lissa has earned national recognition for leadership and impact, including two 2025 speechwriting awards from the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce Women in Leadership Series, Enterprising Women’s 2022 Woman of the Year, the 2019 National Professional Women in Advocacy Award, and the 2016 Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans’ Filipo Mazzei Award for Excellence in Public Affairs.

In 2018, she was inducted as a Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy), one of the Italian government’s highest honors, awarded by President Sergio Mattarella for advancing Italian culture and community.

A frequent media contributor and guest lecturer, Lissa speaks on crisis communications, public affairs, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in strategic messaging. She serves as Chairman of the Board of The Jarrett Payton Foundation and as a member of the board of the Philip J. Rock Center & School Foundation. In Arizona, she is on the board of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, a graduate of Scottsdale Leadership Class 39, Executive Director of Riot Gives Back, and serves the Scottsdale Downtown Association. She is also a member of COGS and a participant in SCOTT.

Committed to her Italian heritage, Lissa serves on the board of the Arizona Italian American Chamber of Commerce, on the engagement committee of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, and is a member of the National Italian American Foundation.

She is an active alumna of the University of Arizona, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts with an emphasis in television news production. Bear Down!