Ritchard Engelhardt Email & Phone Number

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

• Led all Ancestry government affairs activities, primarily at the state level, with an acute focus on consumer genomics, biometric information, data privacy and protection, and automatically renewing contracts.
• Retained and managed a team of lobbyists in more than twenty states and federally to further Ancestry's interests for product expansion and to defend against onerous legislation.
• Passed favorable Genetic Information Privacy Acts in AZ, CA, KY, MD, UT, and WY (with MN, NE, NJ, TN, TX, and VA on track in 2023) based on industry best practices and protected the industry from private rights of.
• Developed and executed strategic plans to educate policy makers about the genealogy and DTC genetic testing industries, proactively positioning Ancestry's work to develop ‘Privacy Best Practices for DTC Genetic Testing.
• Coordinated with privacy, product, and legal teams to identify opportunities to shape state policy favorably for Ancestry's current and future product offerings.
• Created a lobby compliance program to ensure timely reporting as required by state and federal law.

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Portland, Oregon Area

• Managed state government relations for a major biopharmaceutical company in the thirteen western states.
• Developed and executed a strategic plan to secure the addition of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) to the newborn screening panels in four states in the first year after SMA was added to the Recommended Universal.
• Coordinated with market access colleagues to respond to coverage and reimbursement difficulties in key states (including CO, OR, WA) for our multiple sclerosis and SMA franchises.
• Cultivated lasting relationships with patient advocates in the Alzheimer’s, MS, and SMA space in the assigned territory, raising awareness of the Biogen product portfolio and pipeline with policymakers.

Greater New York City Area

• Staffed the Vice President of Clinical Development in her role as Chair of the Board of Directors for NewYorkBIO, providing expert guidance as she executed a restructuring of the trade association.
• Developed early engagement strategies with patient advocacy groups relevant to the clinical pipeline at the Roche Innovation Center, soliciting protocol reviews, and expediting ‘first patient in’ timelines.
• Oversaw academic engagement efforts in the Northeast, focusing on tech transfer offices at premier universities and regional biotech organizations. Organized several partnering events for the preclinical, early.
• Managed the Roche Foundation’s philanthropic giving in the U.S., selecting beneficiaries aligned with Roche/Genentech philanthropic giving guidelines, ensuring compliance with the Foundation’s charter, and providing.

Greater New York City Area

• Managed state and local government affairs in eighteen states, including NY and all of New England, as well as the relationships with member company lobbyists in the assigned territory.
• Developed strategies and targeted messaging to respond to myriad legislative and ballot initiatives relative to prescription drug costs, carefully guarding the association’s brand and messaging.
• Formed lobbying coalitions to sponsor legislation that delineates regulations for biosimilar substitution in nine states and managed contract counsel in ten states (AZ, CA, CT, HI, MA, NY, OR, RI, VT, and WA).
• Represented BIO as the lead environmental policy expert and primary liaison in national coalitions convened to manage technical policy problems related to the disposal of unwanted and expired drugs.

South San Francisco, CA

• Managed the association’s government affairs budget, reducing overhead expenditures for contract lobbying, PAC management, and legislative monitoring by more than 25 percent in the first year.
• Developed resources to add policy staff, including associate director and manager level positions, with each member of the policy team focused on discrete jurisdictions (state, federal, and local / regional.)
• Grew the organization’s PAC from a deficit to more than $100K in contributions annually.
• Oversaw BayBio’s response to Prop. 37 in CA, working with BIO and campaign staff to inventory KOLs at Bay Area research universities to provide a science-based opposition message for the campaign.

Washington, DC

• Spearheaded campaigns in several states to enact comprehensive legislation aimed at the reduction of healthcare associated infections, developing markets for the company’s rapid diagnostic offerings.
• Developed a state advocacy toolkit that included issue specific talking points and lobbying tools for major company priorities and selected legislative consulting firms for more than 15 states.
• Coordinated facility tours with policy makers at BD manufacturing and research facilities in key focus states, including CA, MA, NC, TX, and WI.

Sacramento, CA

• Managed the state legislative committee, conducting weekly teleconferences to provide legislative and regulatory updates and to develop consensus among members for the association’s positions.
• Conducted outreach with the California Congressional delegation at the district office level, focusing heavily on provisions within the health care reform bills (including the medical device tax), follow-on biologics.
• Organized California Life Sciences Day, an annual lobby day in Sacramento for the biomedical industry.
• Assisted the Vice President of State Government Affairs with the development of the political action committee, substantially growing member contributions and organizing meaningful, well-funded events.

Sacramento, CA

• Staffed the Senator on Health Committee, writing analyses for each bill heard before the committee.
• Managed six bills relative to health, education, labor, high technology crimes, and housing.
• Drafted legislative language for bills and resolutions introduced by the Senator.

Bachelor Of Arts, Government

• Course work also taken at Fairleigh Dickinson University (Presidential Scholar) and Georgia State University

Master Of Arts, Government

• Primary concentration in state and local government and international relations. • Dean’s List every semester and listed in Who’s Who.