In the late summer of 1999, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) gave Natalie Rule (IBGA 95) a promotion. Again. The move, from press secretary to communications director, was one of many career advancements that began with her attendance at the Institute for Business and Government Affairs (IBGA).

Rule worked for Vistory 2000 as its Western United States media coordinator for President George W. Bush’s campaign. After serving as press secretary for the 54th Inaugural Committee, she was appointed as a special assistant to U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Gale Norton in the Office of Communications.

Rule has since chosen to move her career to the private sector and recently joined The Coca-Cola Company’s media relations team as a manager in their corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rule came to TFAS as a junior, having been named one of the top 10 sophomore students at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas the previous year.

TFAS staff placed Rule in an internship with Gold and Liebengood, a prominent Washington lobbying firm. Her responsibilities that summer included researching issues of concern in the oil and gas industry and attending House Committee Hearings and political events important to the industry.

Upon graduating summa cum laude, Rule returned to Washington and to TFAS to work as the program assistant for the 1996 IBGA. She continues her regular participation in TFAS-sponsored activities, including Career Day and served on the Alumni Council. Of her experience, Rule says, “The network of TFAS alumni and staff I am in touch with and continue to meet has been extremely generous in continuing to open doors to new career opportunities on a regular basis.”