On March 14th, 2019 Buckingham Palace announced that The Queen had
“…agreed to the creation of a new Household for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex”. It was also announced that Ms. Sara Latham would become the Sussexes’ head of Communications; and “…will report directly to the Queen’s new communications secretary Donal McCabe.” (The Telegraph, Mar. 2019)
Who is Sara Latham?
Sara M. Latham is the younger daughter of Roger and Barbara (nee Kellam) Latham. Ms. Latham is a graduate of Mary Washington College; where she earned a B.A. in Art History in 1992.
“Sara Latham is a communications expert with more than 20 years’ experience in advising elected officials, businesses and foundations. She is one of a few Americans to have served as a political appointee in both the US and UK governments; where she worked for former President Clinton and former Prime Minister Blair… She has a proven ability to lead and thrive in highly scrutinized environments; deliver impactful strategic campaigns spanning business, government and NGOs; and execute specialized stakeholder engagement. ” (Milken Institute, 2018)
Apparently, “Ms Latham… has her roots in the Democrat party and New Labour.” (Celebrity Best News, Mar. 2019)
Work Experience starting in 1996- present:
March 1996- November 1996
- (“Building a bridge to the twenty-first century” campaign)
Sara Latham “… a longtime Democratic fixer: Summoned in 1996 to help choreograph Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign…” (USA Today, Mar. 2019)
- William J. Clinton won his second term as the President of the United States of America.
1997-1998
- Sara Latham was a Special Assistant to White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Mr. John Podesta Jr. Mr. Podesta served during the presidency of Mr. William J. Clinton.
1998-1999
- When Mr. Podesta became the White House Chief of Staff, Ms. Latham served as his Special Assistant.
1999-2000
- Ms. Sara Latham served as Deputy Assistant to President William J. Clinton (42nd President of the United States) and as Senior Deputy Director of Presidential Scheduling.
2000-2001
- Ms. Latham was employed as a Government Affairs Advisor to Microsoft Europe, Middle East, & Africa.
2001-2003
- Ms. Latham was the Managing Director of Philip Gould Associates.
2003-2005
- Sara Latham was a Public Affairs Director at Freud Communications.
- Freuds is a London based public relations firm that works to
“…join the dots between this insight, strategy, creativity, measurement- and our sheer love of the work-to build campaigns that create tailored and meaningful impact. And the work comes through our unrivalled connectivity: Connecting brands with a diverse network of specialists and a team of unstoppable thinkers and doers housed within freuds; Connecting brands with partnerships and collaborations that can improve your reputation and change the shape of your business; Connecting brands with influencers that can help you reach your audience; Connecting brands to genuinely engaging campaigns; And connecting clients to people who really love what they do.” (Freuds website)
April 2005- May 2005
“In 2005, Sara, who has dual-citizenship, was seconded from Freud Communications, where she ran its public affairs business, to work for the Labour Party during the general election campaign.” (The Telegraph, Nov. 2008)
- Ms. Latham worked on the re-election campaign for The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair; who was the Prime Minister of the UK from May 1997- June 2007. Mr. Blair successfully won his third consecutive term in office.
July 2005- July 2006
- Ms. Latham worked as a Special Advisor for The Rt. Hon Tessa Jowell, who was the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, Sports & Olympics. The city of London had won its bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
2006-2018
- Sara Latham founded The Latham Group in 2006. She was also the company’s Principal until 2018.
2008
- Ms. Latham ran her own political consultancy when she was
“…appointed as a member of the Democratic candidate’s ‘transition team’”. (The Telegraph, Nov. 2008)
Sara “led the political strategy and execution for the ‘super surrogates ([Barack] Obama, [Joe] Biden, President Clinton) and ran the campaign’s covert running-mate selection process, announcement and general election plan…” (Milken Institute, 2018)
Aug. 2015- Nov. 2016
- (“Hillary for America” Campaign)
- During the 2016 US presidential campaign, Latham was a Senior Advisor to former United States Secretary of State and former First Lady Mrs. Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton successfully won the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States of America. Mrs. Clinton lost the Presidential election to Mr. Donald Trump.
- Latham was the Chief of Staff for John Podesta Jr. Mr. Podesta was Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Chairman.
2018 – present
Ms. Latham rejoined freuds as a Managing Partner in August 2018 and as “…a senior advisor [from June 2018] to some of the agency’s biggest clients, including Bank of America, The Rise Fund and Danone.” (PR Week, Aug. 2018)
- Freuds CEO Mr. Arlo Brady described Ms. Latham:
“Sara brings unrivalled experience as an advisor at the very highest levels. Her judgement and counsel is of huge value to our roster of clients. Additionally, she has the expertise to drive the changes we are making as an agency in the next phase of our Future Freuds transformation plan. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional experience and connectivity for our clients and our teams. Key hires of extraordinary talent like Sara are integral to us delivering on that promise.” (PR Week, Aug. 2018)
