Janet Mullins Grissom

Janet Mullins Grissom has a wealth of experience in policy, politics, corporate government relations, crisis management and public affairs. Ms. Grissom has held senior positions in the Executive Branch, the Congress and the White House as well as in a Fortune 50 company. Ms. Grissom’s political experience includes senior roles in both presidential and senatorial campaigns. Ms. Grissom joined the firm after serving as Corporate Vice President, Washington Affairs, for Ford Motor Company, where she led industry efforts on environmental and safety issues, taxes and trade,financial services, health care and energy matters. She co-chaired the industry task force that engineered the successful merger of rival auto trade associations and later chaired the Executive Committee of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. She was the architect of Ford’s federal crisis management plan during the Firestone tire investigation. Prior to her service at Ford Motor Company, Ms. Grissom served as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Department of State, where she was the chief legislative strategist for Secretary James A. Baker, III. Ms. Grissom was later appointed by President George Bush to be Assistant to the President for Political Affairs. In this capacity, she served as the liaison between Congress, the White House and the Administration for policy and political initiatives. Ms. Grissom’s political experience includes serving as Political Director for the 1988 Bush for President Campaign, where she directed the national field organization in all 50 states and later directed the media strategy for the campaign. In 1984, Ms. Grissom served as Campaign Manager for Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) first U.S. Senate campaign. Senate Republican Leader McConnell was the only challenger to defeat an incumbent that election year. In addition, Senator McConnell’s election was significant because he was the first Republican elected statewide in Kentucky in 20 years. Ms. Grissom then served as Senator McConnell’s first Chief of Staff. Ms. Grissom began her career in politics as Chief of Staff for Senator Bob Packwood (R-OR) and was the first woman to serve as Chief of Staff for two different United States Senators. Ms. Grissom is a Member of the board of the International Republican Institute (National Endowment for Democracy), the Atlantic Council and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Business-Government Relations Council. Ms. Grissom attended graduate school at American University and earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Louisville