For the past 15 years, Denise Murphy McGraw has been working in areas of government and association management on the local, state and federal levels. Before joining Bogdan, Lasky & Kopley, Denise served as the director of Government and Community Relations for the University of Rochester/Strong Health - one of the largest employers in upstate New York where she was responsible for securing millions of dollars in state and federal budget appropriations.

Prior to her tenure with URMC/Strong Health, Denise served as executive director of the Chamber Alliance of New York State - one of the largest state-level trade associations for chamber of commerce executives in the country. At the same time, she served as director of Regional Affairs for The Business Council of New York State, Inc. In this capacity, Denise was responsible for crafting legislation to make health insurance more accessible and affordable for small business owners. She also served as The Business Council's analyst for workers' compensation and was responsible for all grassroots advocacy on behalf of The Council's 5000 members for the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 1996, a measure widely credited with saving employers more than 25 percent on their annual premiums.

Denise started her career in state government as legislative director to Assemblyman Joseph Morelle of Rochester. She worked on the landmark tax reduction legislation, Bruno/Morelle Economic Growth and Competitiveness Act of 1994. At the time, Bruno/Morelle was the largest business tax cut in state history.

Denise has a degree in Political Science from the State University of New York College at Brockport and is a graduate of the Institute of Association Management at the College of Charleston. She was named Forty Under Forty Top Young Business Leaders by the Rochester Business Journal in 2003 and Woman of Achievement by the Schenectady YWCA in 2005.