Our Team
Our team of passionate and effective industry experts brings decades of experience to solve problems and tackle projects of all sizes.
Chris Gruwell
Chris Gruwell is the CEO of New Deal Advisers and has a 20 year record of successful advocacy in San Francisco. He has helped his clients secure over $25 billion in government contracts, helped entitle the Salesforce Tower and the Warriors Chase Center, and has worked on a range of local and state issues including complicated land use, procurement, new mobility, tech startups, hospitality and labor.
Prior to his work in public affairs, Chris worked as California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Finance Director during his successful 2004 campaign for Mayor of San Francisco. He currently serves as a founding Trustee of the Laborers’ Community and Training Foundation and is a member of LIUNA 261. In addition, he represents San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 and serves on the Board of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. Chris is an Army Veteran and served as a Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco. Chris is a graduate of UCLA.
Laura Hilgart
Laura Hilgart is an effective advocate with experience serving a wide range of clients on both coasts. Before joining New Deal, she worked as a lobbyist for SF Platinum Advisors and at O’Neill and Associates – a public affairs, government relations, and crisis communications firm in Boston.
Previously, Laura worked at the French Consulate in Boston, Senator Kerry’s Office in Washington D.C., and the Associacion de Igualdad y Justicia in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is currently a member of the Urban Land Institute, the SF Bike Coalition, SPUR, Leadership San Francisco, the Alliance Francaise de San Francisco, and the Associate Board of Generation Citizen. Laura graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in International Relations.
Tom O’Connor
Tom O’Connor joined the San Francisco Fire Department in February 1993. After serving as a firefighter for over 13 years, he began working as an Acting Lieutenant in the SFFD EMS Division at Station 49. In 2008, he was promoted to Lieutenant, in 2011 to Captain and then to Battalion Chief in 2013 working in Battalion 1 until 2021. In 2021, Tom was appointed Assistant Deputy Chief, PUC Liaison. Tom was tasked with overseeing all efforts related to the PUC’s management of the Emergency Firefighting Water System (EFWS). In January 2022, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Administration, overseeing the Division of Support Services, Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources, Physician’s Office, Assignment Office, Investigative Services Bureau, Public Utilities Liaison Office and Division of Homeland Security.
Tom has previously been the President of the San Francisco Firefighters Union and a founding member of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from U.C. Davis
Peter Hutchinson
Peter Hutchinson works as New Deal’s Chief of Staff, coordinating the team’s efforts on various projects. Peter grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Washington, D.C. for school. There he earned a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration from American University. During his time in D.C., he worked for various organizations in a lobbying and research capacity including the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the Department of Education, and Thompson Coburn, LLP.
Kate Van Horne
Kate Van Horne works as NDA’s Business Operations Manager. Originally from Southern Oregon, Kate moved to San Francisco for college. At the University of San Francisco she earned a B.A. in International Studies. Kate has management experience in the food service industry and has worked as a research assistant in the human rights sector and the healthcare industry.