Plurus Strategies Team Continues to Grow: Firm Expansion Supporting Clients Facing the New Administration and Crowded Legislative Agenda

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last year, Plurus Strategies welcomed new hires to provide additional support in monitoring Democratic campaigns and to grow the firm’s capacity to support clients in preparing for the transition to the new administration and the 117th Congress. Today, Plurus Strategies is pleased to announce its continued expansion with the addition of two new colleagues.

“Last year, we anticipated that 2021 would bring some changes in Washington and we felt the timing was right to grow our team, said David Leiter, president and co-founder of Plurus Strategies. “While our instincts were spot on, we might have underestimated just how much the ongoing pandemic, the prospects of major legislation, including an infrastructure package, and the need to navigate a new Democratic administration would spike the demand for Plurus Strategies services among both our existing clients and exciting prospects.”

Between Leiter, Executive Vice President and Plurus Strategies co-founder Georgette Kerr, Policy Analyst Paul Eppler, and Policy Analyst Claire Washburn, Plurus Strategies already boasts more than 60 collective years of experience in federal and state government, political campaigns, consulting, and government affairs. The Plurus Strategies team has been hard at work, even in a mostly virtual environment, to grow its relationships with members of the new administration, Democratic party leadership, and House and Senate Democrats and senior staff. Since the start of this year, Plurus Strategies has registered four new clients and taken on additional consulting assignments.

“One of the most exciting things about our new teammates is that they have already worked with the Plurus team, are familiar with our clients, and have hit the ground running,” said Kerr. “In a Washington that still has not quite returned to pre-COVID normalcy, and with the increasing challenge of competing with the press and other big firms, our new colleagues round out our team by expanding our relationships, strengthening our issue area expertise, and growing our bandwidth to deliver timely insights and strategies to our clients.” 

Originally from New Jersey, Jean Cornell joins Plurus Strategies as a manager of government relations. Jean will focus primarily on matters related to energy, environment, tax, transportation, and trade. Most recently, Jean was a senior policy analyst at Daikin U.S. Corporation. However, she also brings several cycles of campaign experience and political connections to Plurus Strategies. Jean has served as political director for Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Midwest/South deputy finance director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and deputy finance director for Aimee Belgard in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District. Previously, Jean worked with Leiter and Kerr as a legislative assistant at ML Strategies and as an intern for Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), EMILY’s List, and former New Jersey State Senator Diane Allen (R-NJ).

Zaki Thabet, who hails from Maryland, also joins Plurus Strategies as a legislative assistant. In this role, Zaki will bring his background in policy and politics to his work with clients on issues related to foreign policy, defense, immigration, and cybersecurity, in addition to managing the firm’s robust internship program. Zaki previously interned with Plurus Strategies, where he played a role in leading the firm’s elections forecasting and analysis during the early days of the 2020 campaigns for the White House, Senate, and House. Later in the 2020 election cycle, Zaki joined the Michigan Democratic Party as a full-time field organizer. He has also previously interned for Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD).

Plurus Strategies, LLC, is a Washington, D.C.,-based boutique, multi-issue government relations firm aimed at providing more for our clients: more intelligence, strategies, access, advocacy, and expertise. Plurus represents a broad set of public and private corporations and trade associations on a wide variety of issues before the federal government. 

For additional information, please contact Georgette Kerr, Executive Vice President, Plurus Strategies, at 202-650-5502 or kerr@plurusstrategies.com.

View the press release here.