After having our new Senior Director of US Government Relations (USGR), Jay Heimbach, around the office for one week, one day, six hours and 30 minutes, we want to share what he’s like. Jay takes over the reins of the USGR team from Tom Hart, the new US executive director, and will ensure that the team continues to build strong and effective bipartisan relationships on Capitol Hill; stays on top of the roller coaster that is the US budget process; gets the best and most timely information; and finds opportunities and vehicles for ONE members to take the most effective action to protect life-saving international development programs.
Jay comes to ONE with incredible knowledge and experience in his back pocket, and he’s ready to apply it to the issues we care about. Before coming to ONE, Jay was the White House special assistant to the president for legislative affairs, and before that he served as Senator Sherrod Brown’s, D-Ohio, chief of staff. Prior to his Hill commission, Jay acted as the policy adviser to President Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, and the special assistant to the director of legislative affairs. He also worked as the director of the Office of Legislative and Inter-Governmental Affairs for the Federal Communications Commission.
Professional resume aside, Jay is a family man first. Jay lovingly recalls his most memorable life moments as the days he met, then married his wife Deasy, and the births of their two daughters, Callie, 9, and Charlotte, 7. Some fun facts about Jay: The family has a dog named Lucy. If Jay were to match himself with a character in a Hollywood movie, he would ideally be Eric Lidell in “Chariots of Fire,” but realistically, he fits better with George Banks in “Father of the Bride,” he said with a laugh. Jay said another of his favorite life moments was seeing the Boston Red Sox win the World Series on two occasions. He loves sports, and when he is not in the office or playing with the family, he can be found rooting on his favorite Boston teams.
We can’t wait to see the amazing things we can accomplish with Jay, now that he’s on board at ONE. Leave a nice message for Jay in the comments below or tweet them to him at @jtheimbach.
