About
Joshua G. Townsend, Esq.
Attorney and communications strategist. Fifteen years on the inside of policy fights, crises and litigation in a heavily regulated global industry.
I spent 15 years at a Fortune 120 global company working where regulation, reputation and public opinion collide. The work took me from government affairs in Washington, D.C., to global communications in Lausanne, Switzerland, to leading communications for the company's business in Israel. Most recently I was a senior manager for crisis management and issues and litigation communications.
Along the way I handled media relations, litigation communications, regulatory and policy messaging, crisis response, corporate reputation strategy and government affairs coordination. That meant working alongside lawyers, regulators, reporters and executives, often on issues where every word was scrutinized.
Policy Affairs is where I now put that experience to work in public. I write and publish on how new technology gets regulated, advise organizations on communicating through policy change and scrutiny, and host conversations with people who work in the field.
I am relocating to Sacramento at the end of 2026 to be closer to where California policy gets made.
- Law
- J.D., American University Washington College of Law; member of the California Bar
- Education
- B.A., U.S. History, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Experience
- 15 years in policy, crisis, litigation and corporate communications and in government affairs
- Worked in
- Washington, D.C. · Lausanne · Israel · New York
- Based
- New York, moving to Sacramento, California