Gene Grabowski

Gene Grabowski is a leading authority on litigation and crisis communications. He is a distinguished counselor and former journalist with a reputation for creating and implementing high-level strategic communications plans, conducting effective media training, and working with the national news media for Fortune 500 companies, major law firms, professional services companies, and government agencies.

 

He speaks on media issues, food policy, and crisis communications frequently around the world to boards of directors and other professional audiences. Additionally, Mr. Grabowski has extensive experience with issues related to health care, alternative energy, and high-profile litigation.

 

Mr. Grabowski has earned the PR News Crisis Manager of the Year Award for his work on the U.S. spinach recall, the Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo, the lead-paint-in-toys crisis, and the North American recall of pet foods.

 

Mr. Grabowski, who has spearheaded Levick’s acclaimed Guantanamo campaign, is a key executive member of the firm’s Anti-corruption and Good Governance practice, a fully integrated component of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Anti-corruption Center of Excellence.  His past engagements on the international stage have included a communications campaign for the government of Kyrgyzstan that dramatically reduced the spread of AIDS; financial-related work for Kazakhstan; long-terms training programs for government officials in Uganda and Tanzania; and comprehensive communications counseling to the governments of Russia and Ukraine.

 

Previously, Mr. Grabowski served as the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for The Grocery Manufacturers of America – the world's largest food trade group representing brand-name food, beverage, and consumer-product companies. In addition to developing and implementing GMA's news media outreach programs, he was the organization's chief communications strategist and spokesperson and directed the organization’s outreach to financial analysts covering the food industry. A former White House news reporter, Mr. Grabowski is an authority on a variety of issues, including crisis communications, product recalls, media relations and media training.

 

Before joining GMA, Mr. Grabowski served as a Director in Burson-Marsteller’s Washington DC office, where he developed and managed national advocacy and media relations campaigns for agencies of the federal government and leading U.S. corporations. He has taught media relations and strategic media planning to lawyers, corporate executives, and U.S. and foreign government officials in many countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Tanzania and Uganda. As part of his responsibilities at Burson-Marsteller, Mr. Grabowski trained other professionals in how to conduct media training programs and counseled technology companies including Java Soft, Sun Microsystems, and Motorola.

 

For more than 12 years, Mr. Grabowski worked as a journalist, primarily in Washington DC.  He reported on congressional issues for The Associated Press, specializing in labor and manufacturing issues, and served as White House Reporter for The Washington Times, where he covered the U.S.-Soviet arms treaty summits, the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Robert Bork, national election campaigns, and the federal budget. Mr. Grabowski has also served as Director of Media Relations for the American Council of Life Insurers and as Manager of Press Information at C-SPAN.

 

A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Grabowski worked early in his career as a reporter with The Pittsburgh Press and with The Beaver Falls News Tribune.

 

Mr. Grabowski serves on the board of International Social Service USA, an organization dedicated to helping children, families, and adults whose lives have been disrupted by migration and international crises. An avid chess player, he holds a ranking with the U.S. Chess Federation.

 

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and History at the University of Pittsburgh, and has done graduate work in management at the University of Michigan. 

 

In this video interview on BioCentury This Week, Gene Grabowski discusses the most effective communications strategies for both sides of the persistently contentious health care reform debate.