When Jackie Cornell walked into MikeWorldWide’s Trenton office earlier this month, it didn’t feel like entering a new world so much as a long‑running conversation finally landing in the right place.
Like MWW, Cornell has deep roots in New Jersey — and a reach that extends well beyond it.
She has spent much of her career inside the state’s power centers, working at the State House, within the Department of Health, across hospital systems and advocacy coalitions, and most recently in Mercer County government. On the national stage, she served as a regional director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a presidential appointee in the Obama administration who helped implement the Affordable Care Act and respond to major public health crises.
Along the way, Cornell repeatedly crossed paths with MikeWorldWide — a firm she had long known as a behind‑the‑scenes force in Trenton and a national player in health care and public affairs.
So when she learned the firm was looking to deepen its Trenton presence, a formal introduction wasn’t necessary. She had known founder and CEO Michael Kempner since her Obama‑era days and, as she recalls, reached out to express interest. The conversations grew from there.
“What made it so appealing is that MWW does enough different things that the breadth of my experience actually fits under one roof,” Cornell said. “We operate at a very large scale, but we’re also incredibly focused on hyper‑local work in places like Trenton. That combination is what sold me.”
Now, as vice president of government relations and public affairs — and head of the firm’s Trenton office — Cornell is stepping into a role that’s less about learning New Jersey’s political landscape than helping clients navigate a system she already knows intimately.
At MWW, she will do what she has long done in New Jersey: operate at two levels at once. One day, that means helping a client understand the fine print of a tight state budget; the next, advising healthcare and life sciences companies on national policy trends, opioid settlement strategies, surgical robotics regulation, or the ever‑shifting cannabis landscape.
BINJE caught up with Cornell at the end of her third week on the job to discuss why the role felt familiar from day one and how she plans to leverage her Jersey‑first network for clients.
The conversation has been slightly edited for clarity and length.
BINJE: You’re at the end of week three. What does the job look like so far — and what exactly does it mean to run the Trenton office at MWW?
Jackie Cornell: A lot of my time will be spent on what people think of as classic Trenton work — being at the State House, tracking legislation, engaging directly with policymakers. At the same time, because of my background, I’m also plugged into work with health care clients around the country.
MWW is a big firm doing a lot of different things, and my role is to bring my years at HHS, my time at the New Jersey Department of Health, my experience at the Hospital Association and in county government to bear for the clients we have and, hopefully, for new ones as well.
BINJE: When people look at your career — federal HHS, state health, county human services, campaigns, advocacy — they know you’re connected. How do you decide which relationships to tap first in a role like this?
Cornell: You obviously can’t lean on everyone at once. Right now, I’m focused on what our existing clients need in this budget cycle and in this political moment. You’ve seen the governor’s budget proposal — we’re only beginning to understand the details, and there are cuts in areas people didn’t necessarily anticipate. Now the budget moves to the Legislature.
So, I’m asking: Where do the relationships I have — in agencies, departments, legislative offices — help clients understand what’s realistic, where there’s room to maneuver and where they need to prepare for tougher conversations? That’s where you start.
BINJE: Give us a sense of the client work you’re jumping into already. What’s on your plate?
Cornell: One of the advantages is that MWW already has longstanding relationships with major players — from sports teams and engineering firms to med‑tech and health care companies.
Right now, I’m working with a company in the surgical robotics space, which is a really interesting intersection of cutting‑edge technology and regulation. I’m also involved in conversations throughout the region and country around opioid settlement dollars, which is a nuanced and long‑term effort. MWW has history here — the firm had a lot of the tobacco work years ago — so there’s institutional knowledge about how to run something at that scale.
My earlier work in cannabis also comes into play, because those clients need help navigating sectors that are highly scrutinized and constantly evolving.
BINJE: You’ve said this role lets you operate “really big scale and hyper‑local.” What does that look like in practice?
Cornell: It means that in the same week I might be in the State House talking about a specific line item that affects a New Jersey provider and then on a call with a national or global health care client about multi‑state regulatory strategy.
That’s actually how my career has worked for a long time. At HHS, in the state health department and at the county level, I was always thinking about how federal policy, state budgets and local implementation interact. So, it feels natural to do that here — to help a client understand both the broad policy trend and what it means for them in a particular town or district.
BINJE: Internally, MWW has added people like Mahen Gunaratna and now you to deepen its public affairs bench. How do you see your role alongside that broader team?
Cornell: I think the firm recognized that, to meet client demand, it needed to invest even more in public affairs, especially in New Jersey. Mahen brings a tremendous communications and strategic advisory background. My focus is more on the lobbying, policy and legislative side — the day‑to‑day of what’s happening in Trenton.
Together with colleagues like Brianna Hill and Steve Sandberg in the Trenton office, we can give clients a full spectrum: message development, media strategy, direct engagement with policymakers, and help navigating regulatory and political risk.
BINJE: This role in Trenton has long been associated with Bill Murray, who passed away last year. How do you think about stepping into a space he helped define for the firm and for the State House?
Cornell: With a lot of humility. Bill was an institution — at MWW and in Trenton — and I don’t think anyone can or should pretend to “replace” him.
My goal is to honor the relationships and trust he built, be honest that I bring a different background and style and earn my place over time the way he did: through hard work, deep relationships and real results for clients.
