Lobbying World: Federalist Society taps new president

Sheldon Gilbert will be the next president and CEO of The Federalist Society on Jan. 2, 2025, succeeding Eugene B. Meyer and becoming only the second president of the  influential conservative and libertarian legal organization in its 40-year history. 

Gilbert is currently senior lead counsel for strategic initiatives at Walmart and was previously vice president for content and development and senior fellow for constitutional studies at the National Constitution Center, director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement and associate chief counsel for litigation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Litigation Center.

“Sheldon is both a thinker and a doer,” said the conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Board of Directors. “His unmatched strategic sense, entrepreneurial mindset, leadership qualities, and vision make him uniquely qualified for leading the generational change the Society is poised to begin while preserving the Society’s core assets and commitments.”

Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno be the next CEO of the anti-corruption nonprofit RepresentUs. McFarland joins after more than 17 years at Human Rights Watch, where she has held positions, including co-director of the U.S. program, deputy Washington director and acting deputy program director.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is adding Paul Martino as a partner. He was most recently vice president and senior policy counsel at the National Retail Federation.

Boundary Stone Partners has hired Conner Brace as a senior vice president. He was most recently director of policy and government relations at the Climate Leadership Council and was previously senior manager for government relations at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. He also served as an appointee at the Department of Energy under Trump.

Abbey Overland is joining The Alpine Group as a vice president. Overland was previously a military legislative assistant to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the first Trump administration.

Seven Letter has added Kelly Devers-Franklin as a partner in the firm’s Boston office. She previously led media relations at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law and New York University. Jody Gallinger is also joining the Boston office as a content specialist and in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, Kayla Boswell joins as a manager and Danny Jackson joins as a content specialist.