MPA Team

MPA is led by a dynamic team of professionals who bring decades of experience on the issues of top concern to the magazine media publishing industry.

Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn

Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn

President & Chief Executive Officer

Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn was named President and CEO of MPA – The Association of Magazine Media in January 2020.

Gwyn joined MPA in 2019 as Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and was responsible for effective advocacy efforts for all current and emerging issues affecting magazine media on the state, local and international level.

Gwyn brings twenty-five years of public policy, legislative and government relations experience, most recently with Accenture as Managing Director of Government Affairs. Prior to Accenture, she was Vice President of Global Government Relations at Kellogg Company, and has held leadership roles at Business Roundtable and American Express. Earlier in her career, she served in the offices of U.S. Representatives Jim Kolbe and Michael Andrews.

Gwyn received a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of Houston.

Rita Cohen

Rita Cohen

Senior Vice President, Legislative & Regulatory Policy

For nearly two decades, Rita Cohen has served as Senior Vice President/Legislative and Regulatory Policy for MPA—The Association of Magazine Media. She joined MPA’s Washington office in 1995 as Director of Economic and Legislative Analysis. Rita is responsible for MPA policy regarding state and local government actions, taxation for magazines, environmental matters and consumer protection including privacy and marketing practices.

Rita has played a key role in the MPA’s longstanding efforts to keep postal rates for magazines as low as possible. She has been a major economic witness for the MPA before the Postal Regulatory Commission, and leads industry efforts to find lasting solutions to stop escalating postal prices.

Before joining MPA, Rita worked at USPS in a variety of positions, ultimately promoted to Principal Operations Research Analyst. Later she joined ICF Kaiser Consulting, a consulting firm with an emphasis on environment, energy and government policy.

Rita holds her B.A. in statistics from the University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, and an MA in business and applied economics.

Michelle De Mooy

Michelle De Mooy

Senior Director, Policy

Michelle De Mooy joined MPA – the Association of Magazine Media in 2021 as the Senior Director of Policy. She is the chief advocate for the magazine media industry on digital technology and privacy policies at the federal and state levels.

Michelle comes to MPA after managing her own policy consulting firm. Her previous experience includes serving in senior policy positions at the Center for Democracy & Technology and at Consumer Action, as well as work in digital marketing, digital product management, and software engineering.

De Mooy has an MA in Strategic Communications from American University and a BA in Political Science and Government from Lehigh University.

Chandi Krohl

Chandi Krohl

Administrative Officer

Chandi Krohl joined MPA – the Association of Magazine Media in 2021 as the Administrative Officer.  She oversees the administrative functions of the association including membership management, finance, facilities, and HR operations.

Chandi joined MPA after retiring from a 25-year career as a human resources executive.  Her previous experiences include leading HR teams at a communications firm, several SAAS companies, and a security company.

She has an MBA from The George Washington University and a BA in English Literature from the University of Wiscsonsin – Madison.