Focus

Matt J. Lauer’s 15 years of public affairs experience, gained from working in the smallest of American media markets to informing vast international audiences, serves a breadth of Qorvis Communications clients in the fields of crisis communications and media relations. Prior to joining Qorvis, Lauer was the executive director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State. The commission, a bipartisan panel appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, analyzed and evaluated the U.S. government’s international public relations capabilities.

Lauer continues to utilize his unique skills at Qorvis to foster understanding between foreign governments and multinational companies and the American people. He brings experience from numerous interest groups, the government and political campaigns to provide crisis communications advice and media counsel to a wide variety of foreign governments, corporations and industry coalitions, including Halliburton, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the National Education Loan Network (Nelnet), and Trafigura.

Pertinent Background & Relationships

• At the State Department, Lauer conceptualized and organized delegations of presidential advisors to audit America’s communications capacity in Indonesia, China, Korea, Senegal, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and Serbia.
• While as senior director of media relations for America’s Promise, he worked with the organization’s chairman General Colin L. Powell to rally resources for youth through a national media campaign.
• At America’s Promise, he organized and conceptualized highly publicized events with prominent officials, such as President G.W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• While the director of communications for the South Carolina Democratic Party, Lauer coordinated research, polling, earned media and paid advertising efforts for successful state legislative, gubernatorial and U.S. Senate campaigns.
• As a deputy finance director on the 1998 campaign of Senator John Edwards, he formulated and implemented a successful early fundraising strategy in select North Carolina counties prior to the candidate’s official launch of the campaign.
• As a veteran of initiatives from grassroots campaigns to international communication projects, he has served as a media advisor to numerous government and political officials in local, national and international media markets.

Education

Lauer is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.A. in history.