Awards & Endorsements

Brittany L. Crampsie has always been driven by a desire to learn more, do better and hone new skills. In the professional world, she still tries to learn new skills and improve the ones she has. She describes herself as a voracious reader of just about every genre, and tries to read the Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction every year. A former managing editor of PoliticsPA, Crampsie is incredibly passionate about making sure that women’s voices are heard in politics. Aside from this award, she considers being asked by Penn State to give the Ben Bronstein lecture in ethics and public relations in 2014 to be her biggest success. In the next five years she’d like to start a family, and while she couldn’t ask for a better team than ShellyLyons, one day she hopes to work in an office with her name on the door. 

During her short time in Pennsylvania politics, Brittany Crampsie went from reporting to consulting before being named the press secretary to the Senate Democratic Leader and caucus in 2017. After receiving a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in political science from Lehigh University, she eventually made her way to central Pennsylvania. She began her career in Harrisburg as an editor at PoliticsPA, an insider blog on electoral and legislative news around the commonwealth. From there, she went into public affairs, spending years consulting for progressive clients while at Triad Strategies and Shelly Lyons. In addition to consulting, Crampsie has also been a regular contributor for abc27 and PCNTV. 

Now in her fourth year as the press secretary for state Sen. Jay Costa and Senate Democrats, Crampsie serves as a spokesperson and develops messaging for the Senate minority leader and caucus. On top of her work in politics, she spent time on the board of directors at the United Way of Pennsylvania and currently serves as an alumni ambassador for Lehigh. Prior to her nomination to City & State Pennsylvania’s Forty under 40 list, she was recognized in PoliticsPA’s “30 Under 30” list and Central Penn Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. She credits her mentors Pete Shelly at Shelly Lyons and Tony Lepore, chief of staff for Costa, for helping her along the way.

Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. offers farewell remarks for Brittany Crampsie, comments on Senate tenure

Brittany Crampsie started college at Lehigh University on a music scholarship – she’s a classically trained cellist – on track to be the “next Ann Curry.”

But stints at PoliticsPA, a political news blog and a paid internship at Triad Strategies changed all that.

“I briefly thought about being a professional cello player, which is even less lucrative than being a journalist,” she said. “But I learned that my passion was really in advocacy.”

A Presidential Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Crampsie quickly rose through the ranks at Triad, which specializes in advocacy work around issues like health care and labor rights.

“Seeing the behind-the-scenes work of what goes into media and issues advocacy, I really fell in love with that,” she said. “And I really strongly believe in being an advocate for good causes. We don’t represent any clients we don’t agree with morally.”

A communications associate at the firm, Crampsie said she’s looking ahead to a campaign to encourage the expansion of behavioral health services to Pennsylvania veterans.

“The stigma around psychiatric care has lingered for a lot longer than it should have,” she explained. “With rising addiction rates in Pennsylvania, behavioral health could turn the tide. The ability to fight for someone you believe in to help organizations that don’t have the capacity on their own to accomplish their goal...being a champion for someone else is very appealing.” – R.B.

(This is mostly included as a joke.)