2021 Alumni Achievement Award Winners
Anne Rittman Rancourt
Class of 2010
Anne Rancourt, MPS, serves as communications director for the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest global funder of addiction research. She has worked in communications at NIH for more than a decade, including at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases overseeing communications on HIV and immunology; as communications director for the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health; and at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute where she led media and digital strategy for The Heart Truth campaign to raise awareness of heart disease in women.
Previously, Ms. Rancourt was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, where she led communications strategies on the Department’s $167 billion Recovery Act investment. She has also worked in brand management and behavior change campaigns on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and began her career as a journalist at The Washington Post and NBC News. Ms. Rancourt has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in strategic public relations from George Washington University.
Jordan Bernstein
Class of 1997
As the Chief Operating Officer of Cassidy and Associates, Jordan Bernstein manages day-to-day operations while also representing his clients who are as diverse as global brand names to national non-profits, large integrated health systems, universities and trade associations. He specializes in devising and executing comprehensive legislative strategies directed at promoting clients’ specific federal policy and funding objectives in Washington.
Jordan’s ability to create and grow relationships between the federal government and public and private entities was grounded in his tenure as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson. In this role, Jordan had unique inside-access to the legislative process, but also was an essential participant in the determination of congressional policy and appropriations.
Jordan provides trusted advice and counsel to many of his clients as their general representative in Washington relying on his keen awareness that client issues don’t fall neatly into a single category and that the best solutions come from having a deep understanding of the entire legislative and political process.
He earned a bachelors degree in Political Science from Michigan State University and an M.A. in Political Management from George Washington University.
Julius Hobson
Class of 1980
Julius W. Hobson, Jr. is Senior Policy Advisor at Polsinelli, where he concentrates on assisting clients with legislative and regulatory advocacy concerning health care, appropriations, budget, taxes, financial services, and other public policy issues. With more than 50 years’ experience working with the U.S. Congress and the Federal Executive Branch, he has served as Director, Division of Congressional Affairs, American Medical Association (AMA) where he managed the AMA’s interaction with the Congress.
Mr. Hobson previously served on the staff of Senator Charles Robb [D-VA] and the Committee on the Budget, and in the Executive Office of the District of Columbia Mayor where he was responsible for coordinating the city’s relations with the Congress and the Federal Executive Branch. Mr. Hobson served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a subcommittee Staff Director and as Chief of Staff.
Mr. Hobson served a four-year term as an elected member of the D.C. Board of Education, during which he served a term as Vice President. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at GSPM where he teaches the course on lobbying and also the Legislative Writing and Research course. He is a graduate of Howard University (BA, History) and The George Washington University (MA, Legislative Affairs).