Harold Brubaker was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1977 to 2012. Brubaker served as joint caucus leader 1979-1980, House Minority Leader 1981-1984 and the first and only Republican Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives in the 20th century. He has been the author of major legislations over the years in the financial area as well as insurance, public utilities, and health.

Brubaker has served on the House Financial Institution Committee, Public Utilities Committee, Insurance Committee and Health Committee for over 30 years. He was the House Senior Budget writer during the 2011-2012 sessions.

Since August of 1988 thru 2012 Brubaker has served on the Board of Directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and as National Chairman in 1994. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) and was appointed to serve on committees of the National Conference of State Legislatures. (NCSL) With his national exposure he has contacts in all 50 legislatures.

While serving in leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly, Harold Brubaker gained the experience of the legislative process. The relationships cultivated on both sides of the aisle will prove effective on behalf of his clients.

Brubaker was born and raised in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from The Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Economics from North Carolina State University. Brubaker taught for a couple of years at Randolph Community College in the area of Business.

He is married to Geraldine B. Brubaker and has two children, Jonathan and Justin, and attends Back Creek Friends Meeting in Asheboro, North Carolina.

Sarah Bales is a licensed attorney with the North Carolina State Bar. She earned a BA Summa Cum Laude in Political Science with a concentration in American Politics from North Carolina State University, then earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

While in law school, Sarah served as a legal intern at the NC Real Estate Commission and a Research Fellow at the NC Coastal Planning and Policy Center where she gained valuable experience in administrative law, state-level agency decision-making and implementation processes, legislative drafting and policy research. This experience molded Sarah’s passion for helping clients in the public policy sphere.

Immediately after law school, Sarah practiced business and corporate law in Raleigh. Desiring to get back into the public policy sector, Sarah connected with Harold Brubaker and their interests aligned as they set forth to build Brubaker and Associates. Sarah is an integral member of the team that has helped grow the business by providing clients with insightful and actionable counsel to achieve their public policy goals.

In her free time, Sarah is a member of the Junior League of Raleigh and belongs to the North Carolina Professional Lobbyist Association, where she routinely helps plan the annual Young Lobbyist Legislative Reception.

Sarah resides in Raleigh with her husband, her son, and dog.

Jonathan Brubaker grew up in the North Carolina Legislature. Son of Speaker Harold Brubaker, Jonathan has worked alongside his father at the General Assembly for nearly 35 years and has had a front-row seat to the legislative process since he was a young boy. At six years old, Jonathan started out selling coffee for 25ç a cup on the floor of the House Chamber. As a middle and high school student, he served as a House Page for six years before he began studying at Appalachian State University. Jonathan has a bachelors degree in Real Estate and Government Planning.

As an active lobbyist and the firm’s office manager, Jonathan is an integral part of the Brubaker & Associates team. There are few equipped with the unique insight and deep understanding of the North Carolina legislative process that he brings to the table. Jonathan is known for his strong relationships with lawmakers and staff, a key factor contributing to his successes as a lobbyist at the General Assembly. In the last five years, he has used his expertise to lead the charge on issues involving Real Estate, Tax Operations, and Insurance. He also specializes in rural and agricultural issues, as the result of decades of experience managing the operations of his family farm. In his downtime, Jonathan enjoys spending time with his wife, Megan, their son, Grant, and their daughter, Finley.

John Del Giorno was with GlaxoSmithKline for 18 years.  John led the Federal, State and Advocacy teams.  Prior this appointment, John served as Vice President, State Government Affairs since July 1997.

John has served in managed markets prior to his time at Glaxo, Inc. as a regional government affairs manager in the Midwest and subsequently as Director of Public Policy Development.  Prior to joining the company, John was a litigation attorney in the Chicago area.

John served as the GSK representative on boards of charitable, educational and civic organizations, several Boards and Advisory Committees of legislative and public policy organizations, as well as the North Carolina Biotechnology Center Board and the Alliance for Aging Research Board. He developed legislative strategy on all issues affecting GlaxoSmithKline in state and federal legislatures, interacts with legislative leaders and Governors throughout the United States, and served on various PhRMA committees and policy teams.

John holds a Master of Science degree in educational psychology from Southern Illinois University and a law degree (summa cum laude) from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago and was the Managing Editor of the John Marshall Law Review.

John and his wife, Joan, live in Cary, NC.  They have three daughters and two granddaughters.

Kaitlin Rothecker is a North Carolina licensed attorney admitted to practice before North Carolina State Courts and the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of North Carolina. Kaitlin brings valuable insight on how to identify creative and effective solutions for her clients under the law, at both the legislative level and in the courtroom. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in Political Science and Spanish, Kaitlin began her career in government affairs as a law student at Campbell University. While in law school, she worked as a research assistant and legal intern for Brubaker & Associates, Inc. and as a government affairs consulting intern for McGuireWoods Consulting, LLC. Kaitlin also worked for the office of the Governor as an intern for the legislative and policy department as well as the Office of General Counsel.

While building a foundation in government affairs, Kaitlin quickly identified the importance of effective advocacy in helping her clients achieve successful results at the legislative level and in the courtroom. Committed to honing her craft, Kaitlin dedicated herself to becoming a skilled advocate while in law school and traveled nationally and internationally to compete in mock trial competitions where she collected an array of national championships and multiple best advocate awards. Kaitlin went on to practice law for several years with the law firm Gallivan, White & Boyd in Charlotte. There she focused her practice on complex litigation, including complex casualty claims, mass torts, insurance defense and commercial transportation litigation. Kaitlin continued to develop her expertise at the law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Berstein in Raleigh where she concentrated in litigating claims of professional negligence, medical malpractice, mass torts, and products liability. She has experience in handling all stages of litigation and trying cases to verdict. Her strengths in courtroom advocacy and legal analysis make her a valuable addition to our government affairs consulting team.

Kaitlin lives in Raleigh with her husband, Justin, and two children, Hayden and Kennedy.

Matt Gross joins Brubaker and Associates after serving as the Assistant Secretary of Government Affairs for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Through a strategic and collaborative approach, they have been a driving force behind groundbreaking initiatives that have reshaped healthcare accessibility in North Carolina.  He played a pivotal role in championing the effort to pass Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina. This historic achievement is poised to bring essential health coverage to over 600,000 individuals.

Working in tandem with the General Assembly, Matt has achieved a multitude of goals that have left a lasting impact on healthcare in the state.  He worked to reform the behavioral health system in North Carolina, addressing critical gaps and enhancing mental health services.  He negotiated the legislation needed to launch Medicaid managed care, improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery.  In response to the challenges posed by the pandemic,  he played a crucial role in making COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines more accessible across North Carolina, contributing significantly to the state’s pandemic response.

Matt has a history of working with leaders across party lines on a multitude of issues including child care, foster care and adoption, wastewater permitting, substance use treatment, youth tobacco enforcement, certificate of need reforms, and newborn screenings.  Prior to serving as an Assistant Secretary at DHHS, he worked at the Policy Director for NC Child and the North Carolina Partnership for Children.  He also served for Virginia Governors Timothy M. Kaine and Robert F. McDonnell.    

In his free time, Matt enjoys auto racing, playing drums in a cover band, and traveling with his wife and two children.

Mark Fleming is the retired Vice President of Government Affairs for Blue Cross NC where he worked for 15 years. Previously Mark held the position of Vice President for Government Relations for the University of North Carolina for 5 years and served 10 years at NC State University in the Chancellor’s office.

Mark worked 3 years lobbying for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company and 6 years as a Legislative Assistant in the United States Senate. Mark graduated in 1982 from NC State University and received his MBA from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mark has 40 years of experience lobbying and working on legislative issues.