WASHINGTON, DC—Edelman research subsidiary StrategyOne has appointed Steve Lombardo as global CEO. Lombardo served as founding president of StrategyOne from 1999 until 2003, when he left to form Lombardo Consulting Group. He rejoins StrategyOne in conjunction with its acquisition of LCG and will be based in Washington, DC, reporting to Neal Flieger, chair.

StrategyOne currently includes approximately 80 employees in nine offices across the US, UK, France and the UAE. Its acquisition of LCG brings relationships with key clients including Pfizer, Kayak.com and the US Chamber of Commerce, adding to an existing roster of global brands such as AstraZeneca, eBay, GE, Pepsico, Starbucks and Unilever.

Lombardo began working in politics as a pollster in the 1990s on the campaigns of Senator Kit Bond and Governor John Ashcroft of Missouri, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, California Governor Pete Wilson and the Bush re-election campaign in 1992. His primary focus is managing message development and research for global corporate clients, but he continues to work in the political arena, recently serving as a research consultant to the Romney for President Campaign in 2008.

In addition to Lombardo, Matt Norquist is joining StrategyOne as executive vice president to lead its New York office. He was previously a Partner at Gallup Consulting. Norquist has significant international research, management and consulting experience, having opened and managed Gallup’s offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Dubai and managed Gallup Tokyo.