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Principals

Contact Tripepi Smith
Principalsmaxdev2025-09-17T15:32:54-07:00
  • Ryder Todd Smith
    Ryder Todd Smith
    President
  • Nicole Tripepi Smith, CPA
    Nicole Tripepi Smith, CPA
    Chief Financial Officer
  • Katherine Griffiths, APR
    Katherine Griffiths, APR
    Principal
  • Jen Nentwig, APR
    Jen Nentwig, APR
    Principal
  • Jennifer Vaughn, APR
    Jennifer Vaughn, APR
    Principal

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Ryder Todd Smith
President

Ryder has over 25 years of experience in government relations, technology and marketing. As president, he leads Tripepi Smith and is the ultimate project owner of its clients, which span over 200 public, private and non-profit agencies. Ryder is also the creator of the City Internet Strategies Study, publisher of PublicCEO and the Civic Business Journal and a frequent speaker on the local government circuit. Additionally, his insights have been published by industry-leading publications, such as Western City Magazine and Public Management Magazine, and local government professional organizations, such as the California City Management Foundation and Municipal Management Association of Northern California have recognized and awarded his support as a longtime partner.

Before Tripepi Smith, Ryder served as a senior vice president of operations and chief information officer for a software-as-a-service startup in the financial services sector. Prior to that, he was the technology manager for a regional staffing firm.

Ryder is a former planning commissioner for the City of Tustin. He resides in Ladera Ranch with his wife, daughter (who is currently away at college) and dog.

Fun fact: Ryder is the son of a commercial fisherman and spent several summers in Alaska working on the boat with his father. Thousands of halibut gave their lives to pay for a collection of Legos, Ryder’s first car and his college education.

Nicole Tripepi Smith, CPA
Chief Financial Officer

Nicole has over twenty-five years of experience in accounting and financial analysis, human resources and marketing. In 2002, she co-founded Tripepi Smith and has helped build it into a statewide public affairs firm with over one hundred public agencies, as well as private and non-profit clients.

Prior to launching Tripepi Smith, Nicole worked in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Business Assurance group, where she focused primarily on real estate and benefit plan audits. She later served as the Assistant Corporate Controller and Senior Financial Analyst for a publicly-traded homebuilder located in Orange County, and then worked for multiple clients in the real estate and services industries as an independent accountant. She now serves as the CFO and Director of HR for Tripepi Smith.

Nicole’s alma mater is Claremont McKenna College, where she graduated cum laude with a degree in Economics-Accounting.

Nicole previously served on the board of the VISTA Irvine Chapter of National Charity League. She is a resident of Ladera Ranch, CA. She enjoys reading, working out and cooking.

Nicole is a certified Hootsuite Social Marketing Professional.

Fun Fact: Nicole grew up in local government–her father was a California city manager.

Katherine Griffiths, APR
Principal

With more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit advancement, Katherine is an award-winning writer and creative director whose work with municipal and higher education clients has earned accolades from the California Association of Public Information Officers, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the College Fraternity Editors Association. Her proficiencies include strategic planning, executive messaging, content development, proofreading and copyediting.

Katherine joined the Tripepi Smith team in November 2016. Her clients include The California Choice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Clean Energy Alliance, Energy for Palmdale’s Independent Choice, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy, Pomona Choice Energy, Renne Public Law Group, the Blind Children’s Center and the Inland Valley Humane Society.

During her tenure with Tripepi Smith, Katherine has completed professional development programming including credentials for Accreditation in Public Affairs (APR); Social Marketing Certification from Hootsuite; the Local Leaders Academy at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy; Microsoft Excel from Beginner to Advanced through Udemy; Public Relations Media Monitoring, Customer Reporting, Social Media Marketing Industry Expertise, Foundations and Advanced Boolean training, Foundations and Advanced Social Listening with Explore through Meltwater; and a J. Lindsey Wolf Certificate from CAPIO. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Denison University, where she studied literature and writing, as well as organizational and interpersonal communication.

Jen Nentwig, APR
Principal

Jennifer Nentwig is a talented, well-rounded communications professional and project manager with more than 18 years of experience serving government organizations. She has built and implemented programs in strategic communications, media relations, internal communication, community relations and social media. Her skills include website and social media management, development of content including articles, speeches, talking points and FAQs, as well as event planning and implementation.

Jen’s clients include the City of Orange, City of Livermore, City of Lancaster, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and the County of Orange.  Jen earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s of science degree in global leadership from the University of San Diego.

She is a Hootsuite Social Marketing Professional, is Facebook Blueprint certified, and has her Accreditation in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Jennifer Vaughn, APR
Principal

Jennifer brings over 20 years of experience in the public sector working for local government and public utilities. Jennifer quickly ingrained herself in the Texas community by serving as Adjunct Faculty at Tarrant County College where she teaches Public Speaking. She also Chairs the Communication Committee for her local PTA, and joined the Board for Keller Education Foundation. Prior to joining Tripepi Smith, Jennifer spent 18 years with Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) in a variety of roles. As Public Affairs Manager, she was responsible for representing the company to many Orange County cities by maintaining government and community relations. She served on several Chamber of Commerce boards and as President for the Coastline Community College Foundation. She played an advisory role on the Asian Business Association of Orange County and the Groundwater Replenishment Program. Jennifer also managed a staff promoting energy efficiency solutions to local governments in her role as Public Sector Programs and Partnerships Supervisor before promoting to Public Policy Manager where she provided policy direction and strategy.

Jennifer garnered her initial city government experience with the City of Anaheim and the City of Pasadena. She managed public relations efforts for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau (now Visit Anaheim) during a $4.2 billion renovation of the Anaheim resort. She also served as Marketing and Communications Manager for an international economic development firm that promoted the Alsace region of France.

Jennifer earned both a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Master’s Degree in Communication from San Diego State University where she also taught public speaking.

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