Diego Ruiz

Diego Ruiz

Head of U.S. Government Relations; Head of Latin America Practice 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 🇧🇷 🇮🇹

Diego draws on decades of international experience in business, finance, media, and government to advise clients on public policy, legislative and regulatory affairs, strategic communications, and reputation management. He has counseled CEOs and Board members, presidents and cabinet ministers, political candidates and C-suite executives. 

In government, Diego served as Chief Operating Officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the principal federal regulator of America's public financial markets, helming the agency through the 2008-9 financial crisis, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and passage and implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. 

For over a dozen years, Diego ran U.S. and International Government Affairs for an iconic Fortune 50 firm – PepsiCo – and one of America's biggest privately held companies – SC Johnson. He led advocacy and public affairs with governments and civil society stakeholders in Washington D.C., U.S. statehouses, and capitals around the world. He has testified before the US Congress, presented at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the OECD, and the World Economic Forum, lectured at multiple US and foreign universities, and represented companies before government bodies of every stripe.

Diego has special expertise in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market, having grown up in Argentina and worked in business and politics throughout the hemisphere. He was a media executive for almost a decade with Univision Communications, the country’s premier Spanish-language media company, where he ran the company's flagship station in Los Angeles, launched its internet division in Miami, and created the first-ever Spanish-language morning newscast. 

Earlier in his career, Diego worked on the campaign of the first Latina elected to the US Congress, as well as the historic 1990 Nicaraguan presidential election, which marked the first time in history that a communist regime was ousted at the ballot box. 

Diego received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Virginia and has completed advanced studies at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Spain.

Career Snapshot

• Granada Global Strategies, LLC – Founder and Managing Partner

• SC Johnson and Sons – Vice President, Global Government Relations

• PepsiCo – Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Affairs

• Securities and Exchange Commission – Chief Operating Officer

• Federal Communications Commission – Deputy Chief, Strategy and Policy

• Univision Communications Inc. – Vice President and General Manager

• US House of Representatives – Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, Legislative Assistant
  

Specialties

• Government Relations – strategy development, policy communications, advocacy and execution

• Stakeholder engagement – mapping, messaging, coalition building, grassroots organization

• CEO, CCO, CPAO advisory

• Crisis, reputation, and issues management

• Trade Association leadership and management

• Coalition management

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