Mary-Lynn Bender

About

Mary-Lynn Bender is a collaborative leader with extensive experience in government relations, strategic communications, and stakeholder engagement and advocacy. As Founding Partner at Minerva, Mary-Lynn helps mission-driven organizations mitigate challenges, unlock potential, and create meaningful, lasting outcomes.

She previously steered federal, state, and international government relations efforts, including corporate political affairs strategy, at Adtalem Global Education, a publicly traded company, and managed a broad portfolio of policy priorities across multiple continents. Prior to her time there, Mary-Lynn spent more than a decade at the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, a trade association championing the priorities  of administration, faculty, and students, and leading across the government relations, marketing and communications, and public affairs functions. She cut her teeth as a journalist for local newspapers and regional magazines, learning to distill complex issues into compelling stories.

Mary-Lynn is a graduate of West Virginia University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in news-editorial journalism. She pairs political savvy with a storyteller’s instinct to help organizations convert influence into measurable outcomes in Washington and beyond. Her specialties include optimizing government relations operations, internal and external communication strategies, and designing and executing impactful advocacy initiatives. She is a longtime member of the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics and Women in Government Relations.   

She lives with her husband, daughters, and two mixed-breed Great Pyrenees/St. Bernard rescue dogs in McLean, VA, and can often be found on the weekends volunteering as a Girl Scout troop leader or exploring the DC area.