2022 Above & Beyond - City & State Pennsylvania

Kim Sokoloski, principal in firm's Government Relations practice, was named to City & State Pennsylvania's "Above & Beyond List." This recognition honors women across the state of Pennsylvania that are blazing trails and bettering the community. 

Kim Sokoloski’s approach to life – both at work and away from it – can be found on a slip of paper carefully tucked into her curio cabinet at home. Written on that memento is advice from her late grandmother: “It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.”

“She gave it to me when I was growing up,” Sokoloski remembers. “She taught me to work hard and be kind … I don’t want people to think that I feel like I’m important – because I don’t. Everybody's important, but I think it's so much more important to be nice.”

That commitment to helping people has informed Sokoloski’s career, first in her numerous roles in the state Senate and House, and as director of legislative affairs with the Department of Health, and now with Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. Her deep well of legislative, institutional and health care knowledge has helped her craft major wins like creating a program to help senior citizens who were being kicked off the state’s PACE program. She also helped to get a bill passed to prevent minors from buying lighter fluid. “They were dying from huffing” the fumes, she said.

“The working world is pretty tough right now for some industries,” Sokoloski said. “We’re just trying to do whatever we can to try to help raise awareness for those jobs that are sorely needed and help with some compensation issues.”