Staff Bios

Mike Melanson

Founding Partner

Mike Melanson is the senior partner of OnSight Public Affairs. He has lead and managed political campaigns in Colorado for almost 20 years, including campaigns for Senator Mark ’08 Udall and Governor John Hickenlooper ‘10, as well as the only successful statewide taxing measure for children’s healthcare, Amendment 35. Campaigns and Elections named Mike among the “Top 5 Democrats” on their list of “Colorado Influencers.”

More recently, Mike has lead or worked on numerous public opinion research and messaging projects for the University of Colorado, the Colorado Forum, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Kent Thiry of DaVita, Project New America, Pinnacol Assurance, and Vail Resorts. He has served as the general consultant on several campaigns including Governor Hickenlooper’s re-elect, Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks’ election and re-election, statewide ballot measure Amendment S to reform that state’s personnel system, and 1A for DIA to amend the original Denver and Adams County airport agreement to allow commercial development on DIA property.

Additionally, Mike has managed the past two Colorado gubernatorial inauguration committees “Colorado Can Do” and “Colorado Up!” and lead the first-ever-of-its-kind in Colorado, the Governor’s Outdoors Summit this past June. Other clients include the Internet Innovation Alliance to bring attention to the need for increased rural broadband access, HNTB Corporation on the Northwest Area Mobility Study, Comcast, the Colorado Open Voting Project, the Denver City Attorney’s Office, Great Outdoors Colorado, and Great Schools Denver.

Mike is a licensed attorney in Colorado. Prior to attending law school, Mike was a ski instructor at resorts in Angel Fire, New Mexico and Winter Park, Colorado and the Director of News and Information Services at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, NM. Mike is married to another attorney, Jacqueline Esquibel. They live in Golden and have a son who is 13 and a daughter who is 10.


Ben Davis

Founding Partner

Ben Davis is co-founder and partner of OnSight Public Affairs, specializing in strategy development, communications and creative direction. For 12 years he has employed these skills with organizations in the business, sport and political industries to meet their individual goals. His expertise in public strategy and communications has been successfully used on some of the state’s highest-profile efforts including the USA Pro Challenge and campaigns for both Senator Mark Udall and Governor John Hickenlooper.

Following years spent playing and working in the Rocky Mountains, Ben’s professional career started knocking on doors for conservation campaigns. Since then he’s devoted his skills towards protecting Colorado’s environment, expanding access to affordable healthcare, and protecting local brewers and distillers from changes to their marketplace. Most recently, Ben has combined his passion for bikes and his experience influencing public policies to improving life for two wheelers in his home state. He is currently working on the Colorado Pedals Project, starting a new mountain bike race in Golden, CO, and working with cycling enthusiasts throughout the state to make sure anyone and everyone has an opportunity to pedal happily. And when he’s not working, you can probably find him hanging with his family or riding one of his bikes through the woods. 


Curtis Hubbard

Partner

Curtis Hubbard joined OnSight in June of 2013 after working for nine years at The Denver Post, most recently as editor of the editorial page.

Over a 20-year career in journalism, Curtis established himself as a leader in both the print and new media environments. Working for news organizations in Jackson Hole, Boulder, and Denver, he received numerous individual and team awards and covered some of the region’s most notable events of the last two decades while developing expertise on politics and policy at the federal, state and local levels.

From 1993 until 1999, Hubbard worked as a reporter and then editor of the Jackson Hole Guide. In 2000, he moved to Boulder, where he worked for four years as editor at The Daily Camera. From 2004 through 2006, Hubbard led The Post’s coverage of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West as state editor. He served as politics editor from January of 2007 until June of 2011, when he was named editorial page editor.  In his last role, Hubbard continued the paper’s tradition as a community thought leader while driving new initiatives, notably: launching of The Idea Log blog, developing a weekly on-camera interview series dubbed The Roundup, inviting newsmakers and readers to town hall forums, and pushing reader-driven contests to name Colorado’s Top Thinkers and Women of Influence.

Hubbard earned a bachelor’s degree from Beloit (Wis.) College and is a graduate of Cherry Creek High School.

He lives in Louisville with his wife and two daughters.


Anne Pogoriler

Creative Director

IMG_1266Anne Pogoriler is a veteran digital communications strategist, with almost 10 years working for conservation non-profits in the Rocky Mountain West. Her experience ranges from building web sites, managing social media outlets, and implementing online advocacy campaigns to project management, branding, print design, and online video development.

After graduating from Drake University in Des Moines with a degree in graphic design, Anne found herself back in her hometown of Milwaukee doing odd jobs in graphic design before landing in Boulder to pursue a masters degree in philosophy. After balancing a couple of years’ frustrations with academia with a deepening love for her adopted home, she gravitated towards the environmental policy department, and ended up with an MA in philosophy, a graduate certificate in environmental policy, and an abiding appreciation for exploring the nooks and crannies of Colorado.

When she’s not working, Anne can most likely be found hiking, running, reading books and blogs, and starting (though not generally finishing) various projects around the house.