Government Affairs & Strategic Consulting 

Joe Duffy is the Founder and Principal of JMD Public Strategies where he represents a range of government and public affairs clients in Springfield and Chicago. Duffy previously served as Kwame Raoul’s campaign manager, leading all statewide efforts through a competitive eight-way primary and general election for Illinois attorney general in 2018. Joe also worked for Everytown for Gun Safety, where he managed a successful statewide ballot initiative to require background checks on all gun sales in Nevada.

 

In 2014, he directed Iowa’s Democratic Party coordinated campaign. Duffy has also served as Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party and worked for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s reelection, and Organizing for America. Joe currently serves as the executive director of Climate Jobs Illinois, organized labor's energy and climate coalition that was instrumental in passing the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). This landmark legislation establishes the nation’s strongest labor standards for clean energy projects and sets Illinois on a path toward achieving 100% carbon-free energy by 2045.

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Joe was selected as a 2025 Edgar Fellow—a leadership program founded by former Governor Jim Edgar—and was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker to serve on the advisory board of the Climate Jobs Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A native of Northbrook, Illinois, he holds a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Illinois State University. Joe lives in Chicago.