margery kraus founder of apco worldwide a trailblazing consultant
Margery Kraus founded APCO Worldwide in Washington, D.C. in 1984 as a consulting subsidiary of law firm Arnold & Porter, building it into the largest independent global advisory firm of its kind and the largest majority women-owned consulting firm in the industry, with more than 1,200 employees across 30+ locations in 80+ markets and approximately $225 million in revenue in 2024.
Who is Margery Kraus?
Margery Kraus is the founder and Executive Chairman of APCO Worldwide. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Law from American University, training that shaped her account of APCO's origins: she has described herself as a political scientist by training rather than a communications specialist, a distinction she credits with steering the firm toward political affairs work from its earliest days. Before founding APCO, Kraus helped create and develop the Close Up Foundation, a multimillion-dollar civic-education foundation partly sponsored by the United States Congress, and she has continued serving on its board of directors since.
She launched the firm in 1984 inside Arnold & Porter as a public affairs consulting practice, at a time when few law firms operated an in-house communications arm, then led its 2004 management buyout that established APCO as a fully independent company owned by its own employees rather than a parent law firm or holding company. Between those two points, APCO passed through an intermediate ownership stage: in 1991, New York advertising and marketing group Grey Global Group purchased majority ownership of the firm from Arnold & Porter, meaning APCO operated as an ad-holding-company subsidiary for thirteen years before Kraus's 2004 buyout restored full independence.
Over four decades she built APCO around what she termed "business diplomacy," the practice of applying diplomatic frameworks, stakeholder engagement, coalition-building, and cross-cultural fluency to multinational corporate communications and public affairs, rather than treating PR and government relations as separate disciplines. That framing shaped APCO's client roster of multinational corporations, governments, and NGOs navigating politically sensitive or cross-border reputational challenges, and led the firm to staff itself in part with former senior diplomats from the U.S. State Department and international diplomatic corps.
Kraus served as CEO until 2016, when she transitioned to Executive Chairman and Brad Staples assumed the CEO role. She has continued in an active chairman capacity since the transition, remaining the firm's public face and its most quoted spokesperson on the discipline she coined.
How did APCO Worldwide grow into a majority women-owned global firm?
APCO became an employee-stock-ownership company in 2003, a structure that helped cement its status as the largest majority women-owned consulting firm of its kind. The firm has grown to more than 1,200 employees across 30+ locations in 80+ markets, with approximately $225 million in revenue in 2024, competing at the top of the global public affairs and geopolitical advisory bench.
APCO's public affairs specialty, government relations, crisis communications, and geopolitical advisory work, has made the firm a fixture in Washington and in emerging and frontier markets where Western corporations need both diplomatic access and communications counsel. The 2004 management buyout and subsequent employee-ownership model gave APCO's own staff a direct stake in the firm's growth, a structure that has helped it retain senior talent across four decades in a business where client relationships often follow individual counselors when they leave.
Kraus's original "business diplomacy" framing anticipated the way public affairs and international relations have increasingly merged into a single discipline for multinational clients operating across politically sensitive markets, a convergence that has only accelerated as geopolitical risk has become a standing boardroom concern rather than an occasional one. APCO's International Advisory Council and Global Political Strategies groups now bring together more than 60 former politicians, diplomats, business executives, journalists, and academics, giving client engagements direct access to figures who have operated inside the institutions APCO's clients are trying to navigate.
What has Margery Kraus been recognized for recently?
In 2026, Kraus received the Enterprising Women Business Icon Award and was inducted into the American University Kogod Business and Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, recognitions that reflect both her four-decade tenure building APCO and her standing as one of the most senior women in global public affairs. Earlier honors include the PRWeek Hall of Femme (2017), the PRWeek Top 20 Most Influential Communicator award (2018) recognizing leaders who shaped the PR industry over two decades, the Enterprising Women of the Year Award (2019), and repeated placement on the PRWeek U.S. Power List across 2020, 2021, and 2022. She also received the Alexander Hamilton Medal from the Institute for Public Relations in 2010 and was inducted into the Plank Center for Leadership in PR's Agency Mentorship Hall of Fame in 2012.
Kraus is the author of "Roots and Wings: Ten Lessons of Motherhood That Helped Me Create and Run a Company," a memoir connecting her approach to parenting with her approach to building APCO. She serves as chairman of the board of the Women Presidents' Organization, previously served as a trustee for Northwestern Mutual for more than a decade, and is a past chairman of both the Public Affairs Council and the PR Council's board of directors. She remains a frequent commentator on international business diplomacy and stakeholder communications strategy, and her 2011 interview on APCO's founding and growth strategy remains part of the firm's public record.
How does Kraus compare to other founders in the Architects roster?
Kraus built APCO around a specialty, public affairs and geopolitical advisory, that few other major independent firms in Everything-PR's permanent encyclopedia of industry founders have made their primary focus. That distinguishes her from firm-builders in financial communications, or from crisis-and-reputation specialists whose work centers on individual corporate incidents rather than sustained government and NGO relationships. Her path through an intermediate holding-company ownership stage under Grey Global Group before the 2004 buyout also sets her apart from founders who either retained full ownership from day one or exited permanently to a network acquirer; Kraus is among a smaller group of founders who regained independence after a period of external ownership rather than moving in the opposite direction.
The founder and Executive Chairman of APCO Worldwide. She launched the firm in 1984 inside law firm Arnold & Porter and led its 2004 management buyout into full independence.
When did Margery Kraus found APCO Worldwide?
1984, in Washington, D.C., as a public affairs consulting subsidiary of Arnold & Porter.
What is "business diplomacy"?
The framework Kraus coined for applying diplomatic practices, stakeholder engagement, coalition-building, and cross-cultural fluency to multinational corporate communications and public affairs, rather than treating PR and government relations as separate disciplines.
How did APCO become majority women-owned?
APCO became an employee-stock-ownership company in 2003, following the 2004 management buyout Kraus led that established the firm as independently owned by its own employees. Grey Global Group had held majority ownership from 1991 until the buyout.
What has Margery Kraus been recognized for recently?
In 2026, she received the Enterprising Women Business Icon Award and was inducted into the American University Kogod Business and Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.
Who runs APCO Worldwide today?
Brad Staples has served as CEO since 2016, when Kraus transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman, a role she continues to hold.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
