WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 6, 2023) – BGR Group, Washington, D.C.’s premier bipartisan lobbying and public relations firm, today announced that Lester Munson has been named Co-Head of the firm’s International and Trade Practice and Chelsea Mincheff has been promoted to General Counsel.
“Les and Chelsea have been outstanding colleagues and contributors to BGR’s success,” BGR President Erskine Wells said. “We are proud of their accomplishments and congratulate them on their well-deserved promotions.”
As Co-Head of the International and Trade Practice, Lester assists corporations, foreign governments, and advocacy groups advance their policy objectives. He also leads the firm’s foreign assistance practice, which provides advisory and government relations services to companies, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations. As a former senior United States Agency for International Development (USAID) official and veteran of multiple congressional committees, Lester provides clients with a unique set of skills and experience to advance their goals.
Lester joined BGR Group in November 2015 after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He had most recently been Staff Director 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.
Previously, Lester was Chief of Staff for Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. At the time, Senator Kirk was a leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
As General Counsel, Chelsea will handle the firm’s compliance with lobbying, ethics, and disclosure regulations. She joined BGR in 2020 after serving as Legislative Director for Congressman Tom Rice (R-S.C.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. In that job, she helped set the Congressman’s legislative agenda, including for health care, Social Security, energy, transportation, infrastructure, and appropriations. She worked with agencies and state officials on major infrastructure projects and on relief in the wage of Hurricanes Dorian, Florence and Matthew.
From 2011 to 2017, Chelsea was Associate Attorney at the Mullikin Law Firm, LLC, a South Carolina-based government affairs firm. There, she analyzed congressional, state, and local legislation and developed strategies for the energy industry and large manufacturers.