About Us BAFEF Staff

Marcia Hale joins Building America’s Future Educational Fund after serving as a Managing Director for McKenna, Long and Aldridge, an international law firm in Washington, DC.  Prior, Ms. Hale advised several organizations including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  During the Clinton administration, Ms. Hale served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House. In this capacity, she was responsible for coordinating policy initiatives and political outreach involving state and local elected officials.  Ms. Hale began her Washington, DC experience as a Legislative Assistant to US Representative Butler Derrick of South Carolina and several years later was named the Washington office Director for Governor  Dick Riley (D-SC). She has also held senior level positions in government and national campaigns, as well as working at both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Ms. O’Hare brings over 25 years of expertise in policy development and implementation, management, Congressional, state and local governmental relations, coalition building and issue advocacy. She most recently served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), where she provided executive leadership to an agency with more than 2,500 employees and an annual budget of $40 billion.  Prior to working for the FHWA, Ms. O’Hare served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).  While at DOT, O’Hare was part of a select team that implemented the Secretary’s National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network.  This team worked to educate state and local leaders as well as the business community in targeted states about how to develop public-private partnerships and innovative ways to address traffic congestion.  Prior, Ms. O’Hare served as Deputy Director in the Office of Federal Affairs for Governor George Pataki (R-NY), Legislative Director for Congressman Peter King (R-NY), and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY).

Laura most recently served as vice president for Mercury Public Affairs from 2008-2011 where she designed and executed strategic communication campaigns for political, corporate and non-profit clients. She also spent three months in the Gulf Coast assisting BP with their oil spill response efforts, which included managing state consultants and executing stakeholder/community events and news conferences throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. From 2006-2008 she served as deputy communications director for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, where she executed earned media and surrogate programs on policies including: energy, climate change, infrastructure, and the economy. She was also responsible for coordinating the Governor’s entertainment and international media/events. Laura previously served as deputy director of operations and planning for Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign and the Director of Events for Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2006 successful re-election campaign. In both roles, she was responsible for the planning, management and execution of events ranging from editorial boards and interviews to news conferences and political rallies. From 2003-2006, Laura was a senior account manager for the Washington, DC-based public affairs firm, DCI Group where she directed strategic communication campaigns for pharmaceutical, political, energy and education clients. While at DCI Group, she also served as press secretary for Progress for America during the successful nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States and served as advance/press secretary for a delegation of experts and journalists to United Nations’ global warming conferences in Buenos Aires and Montreal.

Bill Keyrouze joins Building America’s Future Educational Fund after serving as the Deputy Director of the Hudson Valley Office of United States Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) where he was responsible for constituent services, coordinating press conferences and briefing the Senator on various issues. Prior to his time with Senator Schumer, Bill served as an intern at the Washington, DC consulting firm, Washington Strategic Consulting as well as serving as an intern in the Albany office of former United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Bill is a native of Saratoga Springs, NY and earned his B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.