Three Health Policy, Government Affairs Experts Join APCO Worldwide as Senior Counselors

Washington – November 5, 2019: Lance Leggitt, Jim Manley and Peter Urbanowicz, veteran strategic advisors with nearly 80 years of combined public and private sector experience in health policy and government affairs, joined APCO Worldwide’s International Advisory Council (IAC) as senior counselors, Margery Kraus, founder and executive chairman, announced today.

“Lance, Jim and Peter bring a tremendous wealth of knowledge gained through years of experience advising government leaders—including presidents, cabinet members and lawmakers—and serving in senior leadership positions at major global companies,” Kraus said. “Their exceptional insight will be of great value to our clients, and I am honored to welcome them to the IAC.”

APCO’s IAC and its four subgroups comprise more than 100 recognized global leaders, including policy experts, business and industry leaders, former elected politicians, academics, renowned journalists, diplomats and nonprofit pioneers.

• Leggitt is the president of Leggitt Strategies, and a seasoned strategic policy advisor with extensive experience in federal and state government affairs. He recently departed the Trump Administration, where he served as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy. He previously served as chief of staff for the secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), during which he had extensive management and policy oversight of all HHS agencies. Leggitt also served as a senior White House advisor to President George W. Bush, a senior policy advisor and special counselor to the governor of Virginia, and an assistant attorney general in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.
• Manley is a Capitol Hill veteran with more than two decades of experience at the nexus of politics, policy and communications. He previously served as senior communications advisor and spokesperson for Senator Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus. In this role, Manley played a critical role in crafting the messaging and strategy surrounding the passage of landmark healthcare and financial reform legislation. He also spent 12 years as a press secretary for Senator Edward Kennedy and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
• Urbanowicz is a healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience in business, government and law. He served as chief of staff for HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and as the HHS principal deputy general counsel under President George W. Bush’s administration. Urbanowicz has also served as a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, a global business consulting firm, and was a partner in the law firm Locke, Liddell & Sapp. Earlier in his career, Urbanowicz served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Tenet Healthcare Corp.

Leggitt, Manley and Urbanowicz are joining an extraordinary group of strategic advisors and deepen APCO’s strength in providing the highest level of counsel for organizations in healthcare and many other adjacent sectors. They join a robust team of healthcare professionals, including Jack Kalavritinos, Leslie Norwalk, Kavita Patel, Bill Pierce and Wayne Pines.

2019 is a momentous year for APCO, as it marks 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.