JEANNE ELLINPORT  Vice President

Jeanne is SM&’s Vice President and public policy strategist for our mission focused and corporate clients. Based in Washington D.C., she has her finger on the pulse of policymakers and influencers as well as the national print and broadcast media and is skilled at leveraging her contacts to meet our clients’ complex objectives.

Jeanne has spent nearly 20 years in the Washington D.C. area handling public and government relations—including outreach, media relations, lobbying, fundraising, and legislative review—for a variety of organizations. Most recently, Jeanne worked for the American Red Cross Hurricane Recovery Program, where she was responsible for communications and government relations surrounding the $200 million program for the survivors of the 2005 hurricanes. Prior to the Red Cross, Jeanne worked in the nonprofit community with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in their Health Coverage Programming Unit, and Independent Sector. She also served as the Communications Director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of the National Capital Area, where she led all internal and external communications surrounding the merger between the National Capital Area and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland.

Jeanne previously served as a Special Assistant to President Clinton in the Office of Public Liaison, where she was responsible for Jewish Outreach. Serving as the principal liaison between the Jewish Community and the White House, she worked with the eclectic group of Jewish religious and lay leaders to elicit input from the public regarding Administration policies, programs, and issues, and communicate those views to the President and his advisors. In addition to her work in the non-profit field, Jeanne has also helped many Fortune 500 corporations with crisis communications and public relations work.

She received her B.A in Political Communications and M.B.A. from George Washington University.