We have staffed American presidents and cabinet secretaries, been journalists, rebranded Fortune 500 companies, advised generals and diplomats, introduced many of our nation’s most treasured cultural institutions to the world, directed White House conferences, and U.S. Congressional commissions, helped think-tanks think, directed marketing and communications strategy for global brands, been silent
and vociferous friends, elected senators and governors, passed laws and defeated some, managed crises,
and prevented them, too.
We’re experienced in global, national, regional, state, and local initiatives. Wherever and whenever our clients require advocacy, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement, we’re ready to respond.
Derek M. LaVallee is a public relations executive with extensive communications, intergovernmental affairs and policy expertise. He has worked at the White House and the U.S. Department of Defense, and
counsels Fortune 500 companies, private sector innovators, diplomats, cultural institutions, and national
trade associations.
Clients rely upon Derek’s wide range of experience and personal connections across all departments and branches of government, both domestically and internationally, to provide them with wise counsel where discretion is essential.
Most recently, LaVallee was a partner at Industrium, a communications agency with offices in Portland, Maine, and Washington, D.C. He oversaw all aspects of the public relations and public affairs practices, the latter of which he founded. He directly supervised a team of 20 public relations and account services professionals, and was agency spokesperson.
As vice president, U.S. Public Affairs Practice at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, LaVallee served as D.C. counsel for a wide range of high-profile companies and trade associations, including Microsoft, MasterCard, T-Mobile, GlaxoSmithKline and the Financial Services Roundtable.
At the White House, LaVallee was director of scheduling and advance for Mrs. Tipper Gore, responsible for planning and overseeing all aspects of her daily official and political duties, including public appearances, press conferences, special events, policy announcements, and off-the-record family occasions.
LaVallee was on the White House Presidential Advance Team and led numerous domestic and international trips of President Clinton and Vice President Gore. As special assistant in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon, LaVallee represented the department’s legislative agenda before U.S. Congressional authorizing, appropriations and oversight committees. His duties also included writing official department position papers and policy briefings, and preparing military and civilian officials to testify before Congress. He managed official visits from foreign dignitaries and Congressional delegation trips to U.S. military installations.
LaVallee served as the international media and outreach advisor to former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger in his role as Chairman of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. During his tenure as Vice President of Susan Davis International (SDI) LaVallee directed the production of historic national events introducing some of our nation’s most treasured cultural institutions to the public, including the official dedication ceremonies for the National World War II Memorial, the official dedication ceremonies of the National Museum of the U.S. Marine Corps, the decennial 2005 White House Conference on Aging and ceremonies for the 10th Anniversary of the United States Holocaust Museum.
Also while at SDI, LaVallee managed a national multi-year public education campaign for the U.S. National Guard and an unprecedented public-private partnership to clean and restore the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. For seven years, LaVallee was a monthly columnist for The Hill newspaper, the paper for and about the U.S. Congress, and wrote a column for PRNews. He is an author of thought leadership articles published in USA Today, Politico, National Journal, PRWeek, and wrote the cover story for the inaugural print edition of Public Affairs Asia magazine assessing likely legislative priorities of the incoming Obama Administration.
Jennifer Devlin has more than 30 years of experience in strategic planning, communications, writing, and media relations. Over that time, she has built strong relationships with media specialists and reporters in the political, health care, technology, economic, and education fields.
From 1997 to 1999, she served in the White House as Director of Communications to Tipper Gore and frequently accompanied Mrs. Gore overseas. She handled press relations for the U.S. Presidential delegation to the Central American region following Hurricane Mitch and the U.S. Presidential delegation to Nagano, Japan for the Winter Olympics. She also handled press relations for the Vice President’s annual Family Health Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Working with Mrs. Gore, she developed op-eds, speeches and media strategies on a variety of issues, including mental health, homelessness, AIDS, and SIDS. She also helped coordinate media for the White House Conference on Mental Health.
As an independent consultant, her clients have included a broad range of corporate, government, non-profit and association clients, including: The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution, the National Academy of Public Administration, Harris Corporation, the Retirement Security Project, the Pat Tillman Foundation, the Latino Leaders Network, the Campaign for Global Education, and more. As a consultant, she has managed the release of national policy papers and reports on a broad range of topics, from economic security to retirement security to our fiscal future.
Most recently, she served as media specialist to the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities, a role she held for more than two years in support of the Commission’s efforts to issue a report to the President and Congress to reduce child abuse and neglect deaths.
As media consultant to the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, in addition to developing media tactics and events for the release of policy papers, she also coordinated media interviews for Hamilton Project principals, including Project Director Peter Orszag and Advisory Council members and former Treasury Secretaries Robert E. Rubin and Lawrence H. Summers.
She led the media team that launched the Ryan White ACTION Campaign, a coalition of HIV/AIDS providers and advocates conducting a national public education campaign about the Ryan White CARE Act, the importance of reauthorization, and its impact on HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the U.S. As part of that effort, she has written and placed op-eds in national publications, developed a satellite media tour featuring Jeanne White and former Surgeon General David Satcher, booked editorial board meetings for coalition members, developed regional press briefings, and created visibility for the campaign via a screening of the motion picture “Rent” at the Motion Picture Association of America.
She has been at the forefront of the immigration debate, representing former Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Mickey Ibarra and the Hispanic Communications Network to develop support for a bipartisan immigration bill that provides a path to citizenship for America’s 12 million undocumented workers.
She has served as communications director for numerous national sporting events, including the Nation’s Triathlon To Benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Washington DC Triathlon, the North American leg of the ITU Dextro Energy World Triathlon Championships, and ACHIEVE Kids Tri, Inc. She helped launch
a new professional women’s sports league Women’s Pro Fastpitch, developing a year-long marketing and launch campaign for the sport of softball Fastpitch, launched in the wake of the success of Fastpitch in the Olympic games. For three years, she also helped produce media campaigns in support of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Sports, developing reports and strategies to enhance academics in college sports. Working on behalf of the Department of Defense America Supports You initiative, she also conducted outreach to numerous national sports associations to secure and focus their support for American troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As the former Vice President of Media Relations for Susan Davis International, a nationally-recognized
public relations firm, she helped craft and implement national media strategies for corporate, government and non-profit clients.
Her authored articles and opinion editorials have appeared in Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, and many more publications. An accomplished speechwriter, she has authored speeches for numerous heads of state, including the President and Vice President of the United States, the President of Iceland, media personalities Mike Wallace, Ted Koppel and Peter Jennings, and numerous other VIP speakers. She has scripted high profile events ranging from the Nobel Prize for the Environment to the Dedications of the FDR Memorial, Women’s Memorial, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and National Japanese American Memorial.
She currently serves as a member of the U.S. State Department’s American Speakers Bureau, providing communications training for American allies overseas.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Speech Communications and Radio, Television and Motion Picture. She is listed in Who’s Who in Industry and Finance as well as Who’s Who of American Women.