Lori Denham
Lori Denham
joined Kountoupes Consulting, LLC in 2008, after nearly two decades of
service on Capitol Hill and in the private sector. Ms. Denham served for more than four years as Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Industry Operations for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), representing the world’s fastest growing and most successful retailers including Best Buy, Gap, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart. Ms. Denham lead the association’s efforts in public policy and advocacy, retail industry relations, external communications, and overseeing a number of key issues including health care, trade, privacy, and product safety. In addition, Ms. Denham served as the association’s lead democratic liaison to Capitol Hill.
Prior to joining RILA, Ms. Denham worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Cal Dooley (D-CA) for more than 13 years in a variety of roles including legislative director and chief of staff. During her tenure with Dooley, Denham helped build and provide key strategic and public policy support for the New Democrat Coalition. Ms. Denham’s leadership on Trade Promotion Authority and Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China were instrumental to their passage, and she has been actively involved in health care, innovation, technology, and pro-growth policy for nearly two decades.
In addition to her roles with RILA and Rep. Dooley, Ms. Denham also served a stint as Legislative Director to former Energy and Commerce Committee member Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-OR). Ms. Denham handled all of her Financial Services Committee work during this time.
Ms. Denham has a range of campaign experience including managing the re-election campaign for Rep. Cal Dooley in 1998. In 2004, Denham served as a senior staffer on the Kerry-Edwards Presidential Campaign where she worked as Chief of Staff to Elizabeth Edwards.
Denham received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Davis in 1990. She received her Master’s in Public Administration from the George Washington University.