Jim Courtovich - Managing Partner

Jim Courtovich, the founder of Sphere Consulting, has managed client needs in complicated business and policy debates for 20 years, providing a unique perspective and understanding of how business, public policy, and the media intersect.

 

Jim oversaw communications efforts for several multi-billion dollar acquisitions, including those by a multi-national pharmaceutical company and a manufacturing company. He also guided media strategy for a financial services company during its investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

 

Other significant public affairs activities include representing the chief executive of a clothing company in his attempts to restructure the company’s board of directors and overseeing crisis communications efforts for mortgage provider as it fights the Justice Department over activities in the home-mortgage market.

 

Jim has been described by Dana Milbank of The Washington Post as one of the “gatekeepers of Washington” and by Politico as one of “the private sector’s big guns.”

 

Jim previously served as a senior adviser to Ted Forstmann, founding partner of Forstmann Little & Co., and to John Walton, a member of the Wal-Mart board. As the founding President and Chief Operating Officer of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, he led the creation of a $300 million grassroots effort to influence public policy in education and provide scholarships for more than 40,000 children in America.

 

His previous experience also includes serving as a senior adviser to Senator Phil Gramm and on the political staff of Senators Warren Rudman and Bob Dole. Jim earlier was manager of public affairs at Burson-Marstellar, and vice president and general manager at Ketchum Communications.