APCO Worldwide Acquires The Tembo Group Bolstering Its Social Impact Capabilities
January 13, 2020
Washington – January 13, 2020: APCO Worldwide strengthened its social impact expertise, and corporate advisory and management consulting capabilities through the acquisition of The Tembo GroupSM (Tembo), a leading social impact advisory firm based in New York, Brad Staples, CEO of APCO Worldwide, announced today.
As one of the first agencies to have a Sustainable Growth & Corporate Purpose practice, APCO has helped clients for more than 35 years to develop and execute best-in-class philanthropic and corporate responsibility programs that manage social and environmental opportunities and risks, and create value for society.
“We are continuing to strategically expand our ability and bandwidth to provide corporate advisory and management consulting services to help clients analyze their social impact, opportunities and risks,” said APCO Founder and Executive Chairman Margery Kraus. “From the beginning, APCO’s purpose has always been to create significant opportunities or solve important problems through creative collaboration for its clients, and whenever possible, find solutions that contribute to a better world. The addition of Tembo will greatly augment APCO’s capabilities to help philanthropists, nonprofits, companies and governments to earn their license to lead sustainably and accountably, addressing the long-term concerns of society as a whole.”
Denielle Sachs, founder and managing director of Tembo and a former APCO employee, will rejoin the firm in its New York office. Tembo Client Director Elizabeth Duncan-Watt will also join APCO and will be based in Georgia. Other Tembo team members include experts in corporate sustainability, impact measurement, philanthropic strategy and specific issues such as education, workforce development and conservation.
“Since founding Tembo five years ago, Denielle and her team have provided top-rated strategic support to help clients address some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Staples. “In today’s complex environment, we’re seeing immense pressure and expectations for entities in all sectors to go beyond their business objectives and make a positive impact on society. Adding Tembo will help us strengthen our approach to social opportunity and risk, and help clients align their operations with their broader societal purpose.”
APCO is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact—a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to support UN goals—and has participated in the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible corporate practices for nearly a decade. As the largest majority women-owned communications firm in the world, APCO remains committed to working internally and with its clients to promote the UN Global Compact Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Sachs, who worked for APCO from 2006 to 2008, is an experienced impact strategist, organizational leader and coalition-builder. She founded Tembo in 2015 after spending seven years as the director of social impact for McKinsey & Company, where she led the firm’s first global corporate citizenship strategy and helped build what is now McKinsey.org and its first program, focused on youth unemployment. Earlier in her career, Sachs served as an advance lead at the White House. She currently sits on several boards and advisory councils, including for the Resolution Project, Breakout Foundation and Nexus Global, which is the largest network of next gen philanthropists.
“I couldn’t be more excited to rejoin APCO,” said Sachs. “With a deep heritage in public affairs and advocacy, and an impressive network of experts and partners in major business, financial and political capitals around the world, APCO is the perfect new home for Tembo. We share the belief that the scale of the challenges facing humanity needs to be met with the same level of ambition to solve them. With our combined capabilities, we can continue empowering clients to make their mark on society by acting on good intentions and great ideas. I am thrilled to bring Tembo’s experience and insights to APCO’s well-established global team.”
Tembo provides clients with a wide range of services, including strategic management, organizational design, corporate citizenship strategy, partnership and coalition building, movement making and thought leadership content creation. The addition of Tembo strengthens APCO’s deep bench of experts with extensive experience in social opportunity and risk, and corporate social responsibility, including Kraus, Barie Carmichael, Sandra Taylor, Vada Manager, Lars Petersson, Tina-Marie Adams, Julie Jack, James Robinson, Jim Moorhead, Katie Sprehe, Kimberly Gardiner and Jack Faris.
APCO’s acquisition of Tembo comes during an exciting time for the firm, which recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of its founding. Established by Kraus as a one-woman operation in 1984, APCO has grown to a global advisory and advocacy communications consultancy with nearly 800 employees based in more than 30 global markets.
