President Natalie Bauer Luce is a seasoned communications and public affairs strategist, with extensive experience at the intersection of government, law, politics, and business.

Over the course of her career, Bauer Luce has developed and executed award-winning integrated marketing and communications campaigns for technology and digital innovation leaders, elected officials and nonprofit advocacy organizations.

After several years as a senior advisor to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Bauer Luce entered Chicago’s burgeoning startup community and oversaw communications and influencer relations for Uptake, the fast-growing predictive analytics firm named Forbes’ “hottest startup of the year.”

During her tenure at Uptake, the Chicago-based company was recognized as a World Economic Forum “Technology Pioneer,” listed in the top 5 of CNBC’s “Disruptor 50,” an annual ranking of private companies revolutionizing their industries, and named to the Forbes “Cloud 100,” the hottest private tech companies in cloud computing. As Uptake’s first strategic communications leader, Bauer Luce was responsible for building, scaling and managing the company’s external, internal and social media teams. She oversaw the company’s announcements of its early financing rounds, establishing Uptake as the fastest U.S. startup to reach a $2 billion valuation, and securing media coverage in top mainstream business publications and broadcast outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune and CNBC.

Previously, as a key member of Attorney General Madigan’s senior leadership team, Bauer Luce oversaw the administration’s communications and outreach strategy and is credited with raising Madigan’s national media profile as a leading consumer advocate in the areas of mortgage and student lending and data security.

Early in her career, Bauer Luce counseled corporate teams on regulatory and legislative public affairs strategy, crafted messaging for local and statewide political campaigns, and developed award-winning integrated marketing campaigns for leading advocacy organizations, including Unidos and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Bauer Luce started her career as a journalist covering government and politics for dailies including the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald and The Olympian, and as a researcher for CBS-affiliate WBBM’s award-winning investigations team.

Bauer Luce is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a Poynter Institute Fellow. She is a frequent guest lecturer at Northwestern University’s School of Law. She serves on the Board of Directors for Genesys Works Chicago, a nonprofit dedicated to providing career development and college readiness for underserved youth. She also is on the advisory board for Chicago:Blend, an advocacy group that aims to recruit more women and underrepresented professionals into the technology sector. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Club and the International Women’s Forum Chicago chapter.