Orson Porter
Vice Chairman
Orson Porter is Vice Chairman with Teneo, based in Washington, D.C. Orson advises Teneo’s clients on various government and public affairs matters.
Prior to joining Teneo, Orson served as the U.S. Director of Government and Public Affairs for Nike, Inc. Prior to joining Nike, Orson was appointed by President William J. Clinton as Special Assistant to the President, serving as the White House Midwest Political Director. Orson interfaced regularly with members of Congress, Governors, state and local elected officials, and other constituencies.
Before his appointment to the White House, Orson worked for Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist, where he served as the City’s Principal Federal Liaison. In 1999, Orson was selected to participate in the highly-competitive European Union Visitors Programme. This program elects national leaders from non-member countries to visit the European Union as guests of the European Parliament and the European Commission to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Orson attended the University of Wisconsin where he majored in journalism and communications.
Related Service Areas
- CEO & C-Suite Strategic Counsel
- Diversity & Inclusion Advisory
- Government & Public Affairs
- Strategy & Communications
Related Insights
What to Watch in 2024: Outlooks for the Year Ahead from Teneo’s Geopolitical Risk Team Foreword The Global Year Ahead The events of 2023 suggest that the global system has entered an intense period of structural transition that will reorder geopolitics and reshape the international business environment in fundamental ways. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, frozen conflicts have reignited in places like Israel/Gaza and Nagorno-Karabakh,… 
Communicating Your Company’s ESG Strategy in 2023: Five Tactical Considerations U.S. companies are facing a new challenge in 2023 – communicating their ESG strategies in the middle of an intense anti-ESG political campaign. To help companies navigate this landscape, we have provided the below key considerations for communicating strategies within 2023 ESG reports, websites, press releases, social media, proxy statements… 
Who’s Down With ESG? The U.S. Midterm Elections & The Future of ESG Investing With the 2022 midterm elections nearly in the rearview mirror, has the momentum towards ESG shifted, or is the backlash that was growing around ESG still gaining ground? The meteoric rise of ESG over the past several years was predicted to receive pushback at the hands of a Republican Congress. 
Teneo Insights Takeaways – Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors and former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council; Carsten Nickel, Teneo Managing Director and expert on Europe; Orson Porter, Teneo Senior Managing Director and government affairs expert; and Andrius Tursa, Teneo’s Central & Eastern Europe Advisor… 
Teneo Insights Takeaways – U.S. Political Trajectory for 2022 Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large of The Hill and former Editor-at-Large of The Atlantic, and Orson Porter, Teneo Senior Managing Director and government affairs expert, joined Kevin Kajiwara for an important discussion on what to expect on the U.S. political scene heading into the new year. United States Political Landscape 2022 is… 
Teneo Insights Takeaways – Lithium Criticality in the Clean Energy Transition Jonathan Evans, President and CEO of Lithium Americas Corp., and Orson Porter, Teneo Senior Managing Director and government affairs expert, joined Kevin Kajiwara for an important discussion on the renewable energy revolution and the steps the U.S. and other nations must take to secure indigenous sources of lithium to effectively… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: A Bridge Over Troubled Water? Below please find key take-outs from our April 21st panel featuring Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo; Connie Hedegaard, Chair of OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development and former European Commissioner for Climate Action; John Podesta, Founder of the Center for American Progress and former Counselor to President Obama… 
DE&I State of Play: Without a Regulatory Framework, Investors Demand Transparency At his March 2nd confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, President Biden’s nominee to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, voiced support for the SEC’s role in strengthening corporate diversity. In response to questioning from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) arguing that corporations should not face mandates to… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: The Biden Administration Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large of The Hill, and Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo, join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the Biden Administration. Listen to the Call Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Well, good day, everyone. Thank you for joining today's edition of Teneo Insights. 
Teneo Insights Webinar: U.S. Election Results; What it Means for Business Below please find key take-outs from our November 5th panel with Mark Thompson, former CEO of the New York Times and former Director General of the BBC; Sarah Baxter, former deputy editor of The Sunday Times; Orson Porter, former Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Teneo Senior Managing Director;… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: U.S. Election Update Phil Cox, co-founder of 50State and Guidepost Strategies, Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo and William J. Bratton, Chairman of Teneo Risk Advisory join Kevin Kajiwara to provide an update on the U.S. Election. Listen to the Call Kevin… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: U.S. Election Primer Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo, and Gerry Baker, Columnist and Editor-at-Large at The Wall Street Journal, join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the upcoming U.S. election. Listen to the Call Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good day, everyone. Welcome and… 
The First 100 Days: A Biden Presidency
Teneo Insights Webinar: A Special Two-Part Webinar Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo, and Jerry Hauer, Ph.D. Senior Advisor at Teneo, join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the upcoming U.S. election and the state of the pandemic. Then, the conversation pivots to Asia as Tobias Harris, Senior Vice President at Teneo, joins Kevin to discuss the East… 
Teneo Insights Webinar: Trump vs. Biden, What it Means for Business Below please find key take-outs from our October 1st panel with Mark Thompson, former CEO of the New York Times and former Director General of the BBC; Sarah Baxter, Former deputy editor of The Sunday Times; Orson Porter, former Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton, Senior Communications Adviser to Barack… 
Countdown to the U.S. Election (Part 2) Tony Sayegh, Mike Allen, Phil Cox and Orson Porter join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the upcoming U.S. elections. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good day, everyone. And welcome to today's Teneo Insights Webinar. I'm Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President of Teneo Political Risk Advisory, calling in from New York City today. We are 75… 
Countdown to the U.S. Election (Part 1) Orson Porter, Steve Clemons and Colm O'Comartun join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the upcoming U.S. elections Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good day, everyone. Welcome to today's Teneo Insights Webinar. I'm Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President of Teneo Political Risk Advisory, calling in from New York City today. 88 days from now, one of… 
Coronavirus: UK/EMEA Weekly Update – Call Briefing and Recording from 6.17.20 Below please find key take-outs from our June 17th senior panel with Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chairman of ITV and former Chair and Creative Director at Endemol; Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Education Secretary, former Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and Commissioner for the People's Commission on Life after COVID-19; Orson… 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Recording and Transcript from 5.28.20 Jerome Hauer, Ph.D, Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director at Teneo and Phil Cox, Co-Founder of 50 State join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the political aspects of reopening the economy. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Well, good morning, everyone. And welcome to today's Teneo Insights conference call. 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Transcript and Recording from 4.9.20 Bradley A. Connor, M.D., Carsten Nickel, Christian Buss, Orson Porter & Tony Sayegh join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the latest updates and developments regarding the effect of the coronavirus. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Welcome everybody to today’s Teneo insights call. I’m Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President of Teneo’s Political Risk Advisory Business and… 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Transcript and Recording from 4.2.20 Jerome Hauer, Ph.D, Gabriel Wildau, Martha Carter, Orson Porter, and Tony Sayegh join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the latest updates and developments regarding the effect of the coronavirus. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good morning everyone or good afternoon and thank you for joining today’s Teneo insights call. I’m Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President… 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Transcript and Recording from 3.26.20 Andrea Calise, Jerome Hauer, Ph.D, Kerry Sulkowicz, M.D., Orson Porter & Tony Sayegh join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the latest updates and developments regarding the effect of the coronavirus. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Thanks for joining our call today, the latest in our series on coronavirus. We have a number of… 
Coronavirus: A Weekly Update from Teneo – Call Transcript and Recording from 3.17.20 Courtney Adante, Jerome Hauer, Ph.D, Jonathan Wackrow, Martha Carter, Orson Porter, Stephen Cohen and Wolf Piccoli join Kevin Kajiwara to discuss the latest updates and developments regarding the effect of the coronavirus. Kevin Kajiwara (KK): Good day everyone and welcome to our Teneo Insights call on coronavirus. Also welcome to… 
Global Trade Outlook With populist parties and geostrategic rivalries making trade an increasingly salient political issue, it is more important than ever that companies understand the factors driving the range of trade policies currently being considered by governments around the world. The private sector will continue to be looked to as a partner…