Lorna D. O’Hara, CAE has more than twenty-five years of experience in political development and government affairs within various organizations in and around Washington, DC. Since joining PPAG– Princeton Public Affairs Group, Ms. O’Hara has focused, both the state and national level, on association management, grass tops and grassroots field campaigns, marketing, communications, public relations, and political action committee development.

A Certified Association Executive, Ms. O’Hara presently serves as the Executive Director of the Balloon Council, a national association of balloon A Certified Association Executive, Ms. O’Hara served as the Executive Director of the Balloon Council for eighteen years, a national association of balloon manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. She worked with other lobbyists, state organizations, state legislators and stakeholders to pass and defeat legislation on behalf of the industry. Ms. O’Hara currently has a leadership role with numerous association clients in New Jersey.

Prior to joining the Princeton Public Affairs Group in 2005, Ms. O’Hara was employed as the Director of Political Development for The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Previous to ACEC, she was in charge of Political Outreach for Capital One Financial Corporation, where she developed the Corporations’ Capitol Contact Network and achieved thirty to forty percent increases in Political Action Committee totals during each election cycle.

Ms. O’Hara began her career in government affairs at The National Restaurant Association. She managed the NRA’s Political Action Committee and its annual Public Affairs Conference. Ms. O’Hara played a key role in achieving the Association’s goal of raising $1 million through its Political Action Committee.

In 2006, Ms. O’Hara served on the Borough of Monmouth’s Centennial Committee. In 2007 the Mayor of Monmouth Beach appointed Ms. O’Hara to represent the borough on the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission. She is also a Monmouth County Regional Women’s Political Caucus member and was appointed Treasurer in 2007. In 2008 Mayor Howard appointed Ms. O’Hara to serve on the Monmouth Beach Planning and Zoning Board.

Ms. O’Hara was recently recognized on the 2024 ROI Influencers: Women in Business List and the 2019, 2020, and 2021 NJ Irish American Leader Lists. Ms. O’Hara is the founding Vice President of the Monmouth County Daughters of Ireland (MCDOI). Ms. O’Hara has also served on The Kennedy Center’s Camelot Circle Board, Project Children’s Stout Hearts, and the Blarney Ball Committee in Washington D.C..

An alumnus of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, Ms. O’Hara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies. Upon graduating from Wittenberg, she studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. In her free time, Ms. O’Hara enjoys golfing, the shore, pickleball, reading Irish history, and college football.