Cornerstone Government Affairs LLC

06/06/2017 | Press release | Archived content

Cornerstone Government Affairs Adds Speaker Madigan’s Political Director

Will Cousineau joins firm June 5

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Cornerstone Government Affairs announced the addition of Will Cousineau, the longest serving political director to Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan. Will joins the firm as a Senior Vice President and will work out of the firm's offices in Springfield and Chicago.

He served for nearly 18 years for Madigan, including eight years as Political Director for the Speaker and the Democratic Party of Illinois. Over the past ten years, he worked directly with Speaker Madigan to shape, develop and implement the strategy and messaging for the Speaker's legislative and political agenda and the agendas of every member of the House Democratic Caucus. He also developed the implementation of political, legislative and outreach strategies for House Democratic Caucus members and all aspects of the Illinois House's political operation.

'We are thrilled to have Will join the Cornerstone team,' said Campbell Kaufman, the firm's Director of State Government Relations. 'His skillset, relationships, and deep historical knowledge of Illinois state government will be invaluable to our existing and future clients. We are looking forward to having him join the team.'

During his time with the Speaker's office, Will was involved in the major initiatives that moved through the Legislature over the past ten years, including such legislation concerning utilities, concealed carry, financial institutions, and civil laws. Will's long tenure with the House, experience with message development, crisis management, grassroots organizing and input on political campaigns for offices throughout the state, gives him an ability to understand complex legislative and political problems, easily digest those issues for members and clients and put together a collaborative and detailed action plan for moving forward.

'From leading House Democrats to a historic supermajority and defending that majority through some of the most challenging election cycles Democrats nationwide have ever seen, to achieving landmark compromise on some of the most polarizing issues facing our state, Will has been a truly valuable asset both to me and to all House Democrats,' said House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

###

Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc. is a full-service, bipartisan public affairs firm with over 60 professionals and offices in Washington, D.C., Annapolis, MD, Atlanta, GA, Austin & Houston TX, Baton Rouge, LA, Chicago & Springfield, IL, Des Moines, IA, Jackson, MS, and Richmond, VA. Cornerstone represents a diverse group of clients from myriad industries and sectors, and maintains expertise in a wide range of issue areas, including agriculture, cyber security, defense, education, energy, environment, health, homeland security, international affairs, tax policy, telecommunications, and transportation and infrastructure. For more information, please visit Cornerstone's website at www.cgagroup.com.