Andrew Otazo

Andrew specializes in executive positioning, electoral and issue advocacy communication, foreign policy, and content creation and dissemination. He has worked with clients in the academic, startup, non-profit, corporate, and governmental sectors.

Before Kivvit, Andrew worked at JeffreyGroup, a public relations agency focused on Latin American markets. He served as communications director for Evan Shields for his Florida 108 State House campaign, communications director for Miami Forward, and consulted about Cuba policy and Cuban-American politics for all 2018 South Florida Democratic congressional candidates.

Previously, Andrew served as the executive director of the Cuba Study Group, where he advocated to policymakers on Capitol Hill. He also worked as a research associate at the Harvard Business School and researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School, and he helped implement U.S. foreign policy at the State Department. As Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s personal assistant, Andrew facilitated the decision-making process of one of the world’s highest-level policymakers.

Andrew is a born and bred Miami native, where he thankfully resides after spending far too many years in the Great Frozen North. He is a native Spanish speaker and proficient in Portuguese.

Education

• B.A. in political science
• M.A. in international administration, University of Miami

Publications

• Wrote a book titled The Miami Creation Myth, which is in the process of becoming a podcast and animated TV series
• Has published 17 academic publications
• Published a peer-reviewed article in Energy Policy Journal
• Published six op-eds
• Wrote two plays, two short story collections, one political ad, and one short film

Honors and Accomplishments

• Brickell Magazine’s Top 20 Under 40 List
• FAES Latino Leader in Politics
• Front-page features in the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald
• Has lectured at Harvard Law School, Clemson University Columbia Business School, Cornell University, and the University of Miami 

Personal Media Appearances

• Runner’s World
• AP
• Newsweek
• The Weather Channel
• YAHOO Finance
• Businessweek
• Al Jazeera
• NBC
• NPR

Volunteer work

• Founded Trash Free Miami, a non-profit that removed 16,300 pounds of trash from South Florida’s coastal ecosystems
• Leads groups of middle and high school students from historically marginalized communities on mangrove cleanups