Our Team

OUR TEAM

Kyle McGowan

Founding Partner


Kyle McGowan has over a decade of federal service in both the legislative and executive branch. He was most recently the Chief of Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In that role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations and served as the senior advisor to the CDC Director on all matters before the agency. He provided strategic planning and guidance for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the EVALI vaping epidemic as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Kyle also worked as the senior liaison to the White House, U.S. Dep. of Health and Human Service, World Health Organization, and the U.S. Agency for International Development on all public health matters and issues of national security.



Prior to joining CDC, Kyle served as the Director of External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that capacity, he worked in the immediate office of the Secretary and across all HHS staff and operating divisions to listen to and coordinate with external groups. He worked closely with the Secretary’s public affairs team to amplify and spread HHS’s priorities directly to external groups and partners and worked directly on many of the department’s priority issues including the opioids epidemic, drug pricing, and health reform.



Before joining the Department of Health and Human Services, Kyle served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Congressman Tom Price, M.D. In that role, he helped the Congressman develop a comprehensive strategy to promote priorities to constituents, local business leaders, and other elected officials.



Kyle has worked for multiple members of Congress and has experience running several congressional and statewide campaigns. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Amanda Campbell

Founding Partner


Amanda Campbell, a Georgia native, has spent the past 8 years working on health care and Federal budget policy in a variety of roles throughout the Federal government, with extensive experience in both Congress and the Executive branch. During her time in Congress, Amanda worked in both the Congressional office serving fellow Georgians and as professional staff for the House Budget Committee under the leadership of then-Congressman Tom Price, M.D. Her experience includes drafting and passing legislation, developing significant policy initiatives, supporting numerous committee hearings, and testifying before Congress.


In 2017, Amanda joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She served on both the transition and beachhead teams before serving as Policy Advisor in the Immediate Office of the Secretary on health care reform, the budget, and ReImagine HHS, the Department-wide effort to become more effective and efficient. Amanda also served in the Department’s budget office starting in January 2018 and managed the relations with the Appropriations Committees during development of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.


Most recently, Amanda served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she successfully led the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative within the Office of the Director, which was named a Presidential initiative and secured new HIV funding from Congress. She also supported multiple responses, including the COVID-19 response, working directly with HHS and the White House on a variety of activities and policy efforts. Throughout her time at CDC, Amanda provided policy support to the CDC Director and Chief of Staff on agency priorities, including development of CDC’s strategic framework and issues related to the budget and congressional relations.


Amanda completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia and her master’s degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

John P. Gentile

Strategic Advisor


John P. Gentile is a financial management and financial systems executive with over 46 years combined experience in the public and private sectors. Throughout his career, John has held positions of increasing responsibilities in the fields of accounting, budgeting and finance. He has over 35 years of experience in building, managing and leading high performing financial operations in large and small organizations. John has also directed the successful implementation of two major, enterprise-wide financial management system projects.


Immediately after college, John spent 2 years working for the American International Group (AIG) in New York City and 24 years with Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Mr. Gentile joined the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Program Support Center (PSC) as a Financial Management Specialist in 1998, and in 2001 was asked to represent HHS working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in preparing the President’s fiscal year 2002 Budget.


In January 2003, John joined the HHS Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) implementation team as the Program Control Manager.  He rose quickly to the position as the Deputy Program Director for the project and was Acting Program Director when the system was brought live in April 2005.


In June 2005, John moved to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the Director, Office of Financial Management and Deputy Chief Financial Officer. It was here that Mr. Gentile was approved and selected into the Senior Executive Service.   


In May 2008, John became the FDA Associate Commissioner for Operations. In this role, John was the Acting CFO as well as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer with responsibilities that included working with HHS toward addressing and improving the operations of a variety of HHS-wide administrative systems including those related to HR, payroll and travel.


In November 2009, Mr. Gentile joined the HHS Office of the Secretary as the Director, Office of the Secretary Budget and the Deputy CFO for the Office of the Secretary within the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (ASFR) Office of Budget. In this role John was responsible for the budget formulation and execution for the 17 Staff Divisions that make up the Office of the Secretary. As Deputy CFO, John was responsible for the A-123 Internal Control program for the Office of the Secretary and served as the Fund Manager for the HHS Service and Supply Fund, a working capital fund, totaling over $1 billion.


In August 2014, John moved into the ASFR Immediate Office as a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (HHS CFO). In this role, John served as the Executive Sponsor for the HHS Oracle Release 12 Upgrade (R12) and the HHS implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). In March 2015, Mr. Gentile assumed the responsibilities of the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for ASFR. In addition to continuing his Executive Sponsorships, John also became responsible for the administrative operations for ASFR. During this period the Department successfully completed its upgrade to Oracle Release 12 on time and on budget.  The UFMS instance of the R12 upgrade was also successfully migrated to the Oracle Cloud and for the first time a Department-wide Accounting Treatment Manual was written, approved and implemented.


In May 2017, Mr. Gentile began serving on the Senior Executive Steering Committee for the HHS ReImagine Program, HHS’ response to OMB M17-22.  In September 2017, John was asked by the Assistant Secretary for Administration to lead one of the ReImagine initiatives, BUY SMARTER, in the implementation of a department-wide Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) to consider all buying aspects of the department’s $24 billion annual spend for goods and services and to ensure HHS was leveraging their subject matter expertise to get the best commodity and service pricing and value for the department and the American taxpayer.


During his tenure at HHS, John has also represented the Department on President George W. Bush’s Financial Management Line of Business (FMLOB) initiative and represented the Department as a member of the Shared Services Governance Board (SSGB). In addition, John was also designated by the Secretary of HHS to be the senior career official and member of the Agency Transition Directors Council to lead the HHS transition activities and coordinate those activities with OMB and GSA.


John holds a BS in Accounting from Saint Francis (College) University in Pennsylvania. Mr. Gentile retired from public service in January 2019 and since joined the Ascendant Strategic Partners teams as a Strategic advisor providing clients with valuable insights into HHS’s acquisitions, budget, and financial management practice.

Randy Pate

Strategic Advisor


Randy Pate is former Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Pate brings over two decades of public and private sector healthcare policy and regulatory experience to provide strategic guidance to clients seeking to navigate the State and Federal landscape. In 2021, Pate launched Randolph Pate Advisors LLC, a management and strategic consulting firm providing leadership in the healthcare sector to health insurers, healthcare providers, technology companies, and State governments and now also collaborates with Ascendant Strategic Partners as a Strategic Advisor.


In his most recent role at CMS as Director of CCIIO, Pate led the turnaround of the Health Insurance Exchanges within CMS and was instrumental in several major health policy initiatives. During Pate’s tenure at CCIIO, premiums for benchmark plans on HealthCare.gov dropped for the first time, decreasing for three straight years. Competition on the Exchanges also increased, as the percentage of counties with one insurer offering coverage dropped from 52% in 2018 to only 9% in 2021. Pate also led the drafting of major regulations such as the 2017 Market Stabilization Rule, and played a key role in shaping federal policy on the HHS Risk Adjustment Program, Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers, Transparency in Coverage (Price Transparency), and Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). He also spearheaded the development of Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) at CMS, a private-sector technology pathway that enrolled over 1.3 million consumers into individual market coverage for 2021. 


Earlier in his career, Pate served in a number of roles on Capitol HIll, including Public Health Counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee and later as Health Counsel for Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) during the debate over passage of the Affordable Care Act. Pate also worked at the Heritage Foundation and served as a Senior Advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush Administration. Pate also helped to launch the MITRE Corporation’s policy work with CMS and for six years worked as Vice President of Public Policy for Health Care Service Corporation, the largest customer-owned health insurance company in the country. 


Pate holds undergraduate and law degrees from The University of Alabama and a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He enjoys writing and performing music on the guitar, reading, hiking, and is an avid fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

Andrew Vogt

Strategic Advisor


Andrew Vogt is a policy professional with more than seven years of experience lobbying and working in the Senate. His time on Capitol Hill includes more than four years as a Health Professional Staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). In that role he planned more than 20 hearings and drafted or negotiated approximately 50 health policy provisions that were signed into law with bipartisan support. 


Among the significant laws Andrew worked on are policies related to maternal health, childhood cancer, substance use disorders, public health data modernization, the healthcare workforce, and community health centers. His proudest achievement was leading the Senate’s work on the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271), the 2018 “landmark” legislation to confront the opioid and substance use disorder crisis.  


Prior to his work for the Senate HELP Committee, Andrew spent nearly three years working for former Senator Mark Kirk. In that capacity, he advanced the Senator’s “stroke agenda,” a series of bills introduced after Senator Kirk’s 2012 stroke to improve access to, and quality of, rehabilitation services in the United States. Two of those bills were signed into law as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. 


Andrew earned a B.A. in political science from Marquette University, and he currently lives in Seattle with his fiancée. He founded Andrew Vogt Strategies LLC in April 2021 to help businesses and nonprofit organizations more effectively navigate Congress and the federal government. Andrew joined the Ascendant Strategic Partners team as a Strategic Advisor in June 2021 and has been working to provide clients with key insight into Congressional affairs, federal policy, and the grantmaking landscape.   

Devin Krecl

Strategic Advisor


Devin Krecl is an expert in public and government affairs, grassroots and grass-tops, and association management, with a decade of experience in Georgia politics. Krecl is Vice President at Capitol Strategy Group and now also collaborates with Ascendant Strategic Partners as a Strategic Advisor, working with clients to better understand the Georgia political landscape and achieve policy priorities. 


He specializes in advancing policy initiatives with his team and implementing comprehensive strategies to promote the priorities of the clients. His leadership has allowed him to adapt to any task and effectively lead his team when working on a project. 


Krecl currently supports a number of Georgia-based medical specialty organizations, such as the Medical Association of Georgia, Georgia Society of Ophthalmology, Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, Georgia College of Emergency Physicians, Georgia Society for Respiratory Care, Georgia Society of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Georgia Medical Equipment Suppliers, and Georgia AIDS Coalition.


Mr. Krecl is a graduate of Kennesaw State University, where he received a B.S. in Political Science with a specialization in Government and Professional Politics. He also received a Minor in the area of Business Management. Devin resides in Canton with his wife, son, and Labrador Retriever, Leah, Brooks, and Calvin. They enjoy traveling as much as possible and all things outdoors.

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