Elizabeth
Gore

During her eight years as a policy director with Brownstein, Elizabeth Gore served as a consultant, lobbyist and strategist for a variety of clients, including corporations, trade associations and government agencies. She also chaired the firm’s Government Relations Department. In 2018, Elizabeth joined the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)—one of the world’s leading environmental organizations—as senior vice president of political affairs. In this profile, she shares what she misses about Brownstein, which achievements she’s most proud of at EDF and how working at a bipartisan firm has helped her in her latest role.

Tell us about your career path after Brownstein.
In 2018, I left Brownstein to become the senior vice president for political affairs at Environmental Defense Fund, a leading environmental nonprofit. In this role, I lead a team of 70 people and coordinate state and federal lobbying as well as grassroots engagement and advocacy campaigns.

What has been a major win in your new role?

Our biggest victory is the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. It’s the biggest climate bill in the history of Congress investing billions of dollars in fighting climate change and moving us toward a cleaner, healthy economy. This was many years in the making, and our success in contributing to getting it across the finish line was certainly the most meaningful achievement in my time here at EDF. Another accomplishment was the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, which was a big achievement for us given the investment in vehicle electrification and other pro-climate policies.

What was the most meaningful matter/project you worked on while at the firm?
A major retail client had a data breach and hired us to help navigate hearings on Capitol Hill as well as the policy response to the challenges they had encountered. I led a team that helped devise a strategy that was really proactive in its outreach, which resulted in the client being seen as a leader in the space. This was a great example of a Brownstein engagement that made a really big difference for one of our clients. And it was a lot of fun, too!

What skill did you develop while working at Brownstein that you use most in your current role?
Prior to working at Brownstein, every job I held was a partisan job – a political job on Capitol Hill or in the administration. I had only worked with Democrats my whole career. Of course, Brownstein is a bipartisan shop with a great mix of people from across the political spectrum. That was a great opportunity for me to expand the way I think about policy solutions and leveraging different points of view. At EDF, we are a centrist, bipartisan environmental group, and my Brownstein experience certainly helped me to think more creatively and expansively about finding solutions and a path forward by using a broad range of political perspectives.

What did you like most about working at Brownstein?

The people. I made really strong relationships across the firm, and that’s what I miss most about Brownstein. I also really enjoyed the retreat held at the St. Julian in Boulder!

What advice would you give to someone starting their career at the firm?

Jump in with both feet, find opportunities to engage on lots of different projects with lots of different people, build your network both inside and outside of the firm and don’t be afraid to work hard.