Lester Munson

Lester Munson joined government relations firm BGR as Vice President, International in November 2015 after a 26 year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He most recently served as the Staff Director for Chairman Bob Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership. In the past two and a half years, the committee passed into law several bills regarding US policy toward Ukraine and Russia, including major sanctions legislation, has engaged in efforts to fundamentally reform, reauthorize, or modify key foreign assistance programs, including food aid, PEPFAR, arms transfers, and has taken up legislation on the most important foreign policy and national security issues of the day, including the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, authorizations for the use of military force, and various international treaties and agreements. Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff in Senator Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.), Washington, DC office. During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at the US Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative. Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, he was a senior-level foreign affairs staff member on the key foreign policy committees in both the House and Senate. He is 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s Degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis.