Dan Bryan (left) and Eric Shuffler
By Joshua Burd
Policy and public relations experts Dan Bryan and Eric Shuffler have launched Resolve Strategic Communications, a full-service agency serving the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
Based in Edison, the firm said it will offer strategic messaging, crisis communications, media relations and integrated public affairs campaigns to clients in areas such as higher education, advocacy and real estate. That work will focus on what it described as a simple premise — that communications strategies are only effective when they reflect how decisions are actually made in business, government and stakeholder environments.
Bryan, Resolve’s managing partner, is a former top adviser to Gov. Phil Murphy and a key architect of his historic 2021 re-election campaign. Shuffler, for his part, will serve as founding partner to continue his decades-long career in government, politics and public policy.
“We live in a rapidly evolving policy and economic environment,” Bryan said. “Resolve Strategic Communications will help organizations communicate effectively within the ever-changing public affairs landscape, combining strong messaging, strategic thinking and disciplined execution to help clients achieve their goals.”
The independent firm will operate in strategic partnership with Shuffler’s River Crossing Strategy Group, leveraging its more than 20 years of experience in helping clients succeed in governmental and advocacy settings. Resolve has also hired Toral Patel, formerly of Murphy’s communications office, and said it will continue to build a team of top professionals throughout the year.
“The next phase of communications isn’t about better messaging — it’s about alignment with how decisions actually get made,” Shuffler said. “Resolve was built on that premise: combining communications strategy with a real understanding of what drives policymaker behavior, so clients can advocate more effectively and achieve actual results.”
Bryan, who has founded two successful consulting firms since leaving the public sector, first worked with Murphy during the 2017 campaign and served as the governor’s first press secretary in 2018, according to a news release. He was promoted in 2019 to senior advisor to the governor for strategic communications, a role in which he helped shape the administration’s messaging and communications strategy across all facets of state government, built key media relationships throughout state and national politics and provided counsel on issues ranging from the state budget to major policy priorities.
Prior to working for Murphy, Bryan served as chief of staff to Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer from 2009 to 2015. He grew up in Ringwood and is a graduate of the University of Scranton and Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey.
Shuffler started in government in Washington, D.C. but has a long and proven history in New Jersey, the news release said. He served as chief of staff to a United States senator and counselor, chief policy adviser and speechwriter to Govs. Jim McGreevey and Dick Codey.
He also served as chief of staff at the Department of Transportation and as the director of the New Jersey Office of Recovery and Victim Assistance after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Resolve added that Shuffler, a University of Michigan graduate, has been called “a longtime New Jersey political insider with strong relationships across the state” and a “public policy expert and the veteran policy hand you are looking for” by the state’s leading political websites.
Patel, meantime, graduated from Rutgers University and began her career with the Murphy administration in 2024, following internships in the Office of Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, the news release said. She supported a range of communications during her time in the administration, contributing to strategic messaging and digital engagement initiatives in the last years of the governor’s two terms.
“Communications is constantly evolving in today’s media landscape,” Patel said. “I look forward to helping our clients shape strategies that reflect the moment while positioning them for what’s ahead. I’m thrilled to join Resolve Strategic Communications and excited to be at the helm of work that drives meaningful impact for our clients.”
