Kirill Goncharenko is a Founding Partner at Mercury Public Affairs and the firm's director of corporate affairs and crisis management. He also leads the firm operations in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, CA.
Mr. Goncharenko’s extensive corporate background, coupled with a foundation in electoral politics, allows him to devise cutting-edge public affairs campaigns that achieve specific business results for his clients, including Motorola, AT&T, Seagram, CBS, Southern California Edison, HCA and Ryder, among many others. His recent strategic work for one major healthcare trade group led to billions of new federal funding and tort reform in several key states. In addition, Mr. Goncharenko has provided senior counsel to corporations under the spotlight of some of the highest profile crises of the past 15 years. Mr. Goncharenko frequently speaks on crisis management at executive conferences, including the Forbes CEO Forum.
Prior to founding Mercury Public Affairs, Mr. Goncharenko served as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for a $3 billion healthcare company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Goncharenko's responsibilities included public relations, government relations, investor relations and internal communications for the company's 65,000 employees.
From 1994-1998, Mr. Goncharenko was an Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Burson-Marsteller, the leading global public affairs/public relations firm. At Burson-Marsteller, Mr. Goncharenko provided senior counsel in crisis management, public affairs, labor relations and mergers and acquisitions for Fortune 500 companies.
Mr. Goncharenko developed his public affairs and communications skills on Capitol Hill, where he worked in the United States Senate, with a particular emphasis in International Relations. He also served as the Communications Director in 13 states for Bob Dole's 1996 Presidential campaign.
A native New Yorker, Mr. Goncharenko received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Mr. Goncharenko resides in Manhattan with his partner Yulia, son Sasha and daughter Katya.