Staff Changes at Koch Brothers Front Group

Politico has the scoop:

STAFF SHUFFLE AT AFP: Americans for Prosperity, the influential economic freedom group backed by the Koch brothers network, rolled out several high-level staffing shifts on an internal call yesterday. A source inside AFP told POLITICO of the changes. Luke Hilgemann, who has been chief operating officer, was promoted to chief executive officer. Tim Phillips will remain in his role as president. The CFO, Robert Heaton, will oversee the Finance, HR and Operations/IT teams. Under the new organizational chart: the COO is Chris Fink, the VP of government affairs isBrent Gardner ; the VP of strategic initiatives is Adam Stryker; the director of development is Sarah Moore; the chief of staff is Sean Lansing; the director of leadership development is Mallon Graham. 

AN INSIDER READS BETWEEN THE LINES: "Basically this has been a movement since 2012. State directors got railroaded by corporate mentality at AFP HQ. In 2013, the state directors created a plan and that led to Luke Hilgemann [the Wisconsin state director] to take over as COO. Luke aligned himself with a handful of state directors to take back control and create a plan for success leading into 2014. The board approved the plan [outlined above] along with the budget to keep field staff in chapter states. By the time 2016 rolls around, each state will have a paid operation with quality talent which is getting recruited now instead of three months before the election."

AN AFP SPOKESMAN told PI that the "minor changes to the organizational structure" merely reflect the job Hilgemann has already been doing and elevate others into the spots that opened up when he got the CEO title. The spokesman said the group created another level of hierarchy to reflect the much larger staff and the group's desire to be influential year-round. "Again the driving force behind these changes is the fact that no one can effectively manage, supervise and guide thirteen direct reports," Hilgemann wrote in an email to staff. "Although some people's roles, responsibilities and titles are changing, our mission and vision are not.