Bryce Harlow Foundation

During this week in 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified.  That’s 223 years of free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances– in modern parlance, the right to lobby.

As we reflect on this important anniversary, we should recognize how central the right to lobby was to the Founding Fathers and why it continues to be essential to every American and to society as a whole.

Government touches every aspect of our lives, and all Americans have lobbyists even if they do not recognize it.  If you eat food, you have a lobbyist.  If you have clothes and shoes, you have a lobbyist.  If you drive a car, you have a lobbyist.  If your children attend school, you have a lobbyist.  If you see a doctor or go to a hospital, you have a lobbyist.

Lobbyists make sure taxpayers’, parents’, consumers’, workers’, and citizens’ voices are heard, and they act as a critical check on a bureaucracy that is not always accountable.  Speaker of the House John Boehner once said that lobbyists are the only way Members of Congress know what is in a bill.  This is even more important at times like this past weekend when lawmakers voted on a 1,600 page bill to fund the government that was introduced less than 48 hours before the vote.  Lobbyists not only tell Congress what is in the bill, but also they explain the consequences, most of which are not understood or anticipated.  Government simply cannot function without lobbyists and the vital information they provide.

Let’s celebrate 223 years of the right to petition our government and salute the Bryce Harlow Foundation for educating the next generation of lobbyists who will take up this responsibility.

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2014 – The Bryce Harlow Foundation, the national capital’s premier organization supporting the professions of lobbying and advocacy, today announced the recipients of its 2015 awards. The awards will be given during the foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner to be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at the Capital Hilton.

Congressman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) was selected to receive the prestigious Bryce Harlow Award, which honors an elected official whose career is built on championing the principles of integrity, dedication and professionalism — echoing the work and life of the late Bryce Harlow. Serving southwest Michigan since 1987, Upton chairs the House Energy & Commerce Committee. Prior to his election to Congress, Upton worked for President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Management and Budget. “We are delighted to present this award to Fred, who exemplifies best practices in the development of public policy – through open discussion, honest exchange and good decision-making on behalf of the American people,” said Leigh Ann Pusey, chairman of the Bryce Harlow Foundation.

Lobbyist Steve Elmendorf will receive the Bryce Harlow Business Government Relations Award, which is given annually to a leader in the advocacy community in recognition of an exemplary career in the profession. Elmendorf is a principle at Elmendorf | Ryan, a leading lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Prior to starting his firm in 2006, Elmendorf served as a senior advisor to House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) for 12 years and held senior positions in the presidential campaigns of Gephardt, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). He was named by The New Republic as one of Washington’s “Most Powerful, Least Famous People” and was listed twice on GQ’s “50 Most Powerful People in Washington, D.C.” “Steve Elmendorf is unquestionably a well-deserving recipient of this award,” said Mitch Bainwol, vice chairman of the Bryce Harlow Foundation. “Steve’s career is an example of lobbying with the highest standards of ethics and honesty, reflecting the standards of Bryce Harlow himself.”

About the Bryce Harlow Foundation

The Bryce Harlow Foundation was established in 1981 in honor of the late Bryce Harlow to promote integrity within the lobbying profession and to increase the understanding of its essential role in the development of sound public policy. Bryce Harlow, who served under four U.S. presidents, established the first White House Congressional Liaison Office and served as its director during the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.bryceharlow.org.

Contact: Barbara Faculjak
Direct: 202-654-7812
Mobile: 703-402-9094
Email: bfaculjak@bryceharlow.org

Samantha Bilotta first heard of the Bryce Harlow Foundation while working towards her bachelor’s degree in political science at American University. As a junior, Samantha took a class on Ethics in Lobbying, taught by the Foundation.

“I loved the class and everything BHF stood for. I knew it was something I wanted to continue to pursue,” Samantha said. “I’ve never found an organization where my morals and beliefs about lobbying aligned so closely with theirs.”

Today, Samantha is a three-time BHF fellow and she credits the Fellowship’s mentoring program as one of its strengths. “My mentors through the Foundation have been engaged every step of the way. They are easy to talk with and provide practical advice while challenging me to question what is right and wrong in the world of professional advocacy.”

Samantha is poised to complete her master’s degree in Legislative Affairs through George Washington University this December while working as a Director for Banner Public Affairs, where she specializes in drafting legislation and policy research.

We’ve been honored to have a young leader with Samantha’s promise and integrity as part of the Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellowship.

Rudy Barry is the managing director at Whitmer & Worrall, working towards his Master’s degree in Business Administration at The George Washington University, and a two time Bryce Harlow Fellow. Professional advocates are critical to effective lawmaking as they educate lawmakers and their staff–and that is a calling Rudy lives out daily.

“The role of advocacy is so important because congressional offices are inundated with more and more information through the 24 hour news cycle, social media, and advocacy groups,” Rudy said. “It’s really important for experts in specific fields to educate members of congress and their staff.”

Earning the trust of the legislative staff is critical to being heard when bills come up that can affect client industries.

“It’s an important part of advocacy and it’s critically important to have an ongoing trusting relationships with staff if you want to accomplish your goals.”

We are proud to support Rudy in his pursuit of educating lawmakers and working with businesses to ensure that policy decisions are made for the common good.

At the heart of professional advocacy is a commitment to education–a dedication that Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellow Amy Spain lives out daily. Amy is a two-time BHF Fellow, a Manager of Membership Development and Industry Research at the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), and a law student at George Mason University.

“The role of lobbyists is to represent our members before policy makers… You need to educate lawmakers about how those issues might impact the public,” Amy said.

But successful lobbying is about far more than just education. “As a lobbyist, you need to be truthful and have high moral principles, or you aren’t credible,” Amy said. “You need to be honest and trusted to be effective.”

Education and integrity come together through Amy’s work at NBWA, as Amy supports members who are active in their communities and charities, working to eliminate underage drinking and combat drunk driving, while building family-owned and multi-generation businesses.

Protecting the consumer is fundamental to the work of NBWA. NBWA and its members work to facilitate a safe and orderly marketplace and promotes responsibility in the distribution, sale and consumption of alcohol. Thanks in part to the three-tier system of alcohol controls, the industry is unique in that they’re able to quickly and efficiently pull a product from shelves if necessary.

“In other countries, we read about tragic headlines of tainted alcohol products, and that’s not something you see hear about in America,” Amy said. “I believe in the value and importance of this industry. I see how distributors serve the public’s interests and keep the marketplace safe and that’s why I am proud to be a part of NBWA,” Amy said.

Amy’s work–and the work of all professional advocates–is a calling the Bryce Harlow Foundation is proud to support.

Bryce Harlow Foundation fellow Caitlin McHale knows integrity and trustworthiness are key to her work as a professional advocate. Caitlin works as a treasury coordinator for Mars, Incorporated while pursuing her law degree from George Mason University.

“To be successful as lobbyist you need to have a good understanding of how both the government and private sector work,” said Caitlin. “Working in the private sector gives you an understanding of how policy decisions affect real businesses.”

Success as a lobbyist, however, is more than just knowing about how policy interacts with industry and the real life consequences that an ill-advised law can cause. A commitment to sound ethics and a reputation of dependability are also critical.

“At the end of the day, a strong ethical stance is non negotiable from a legal and policy perspective,” Caitlin said. “Lobbyists are entrusted to be sources of reliable information for legislators, businesses, clients, and the public. Your clients need to know you will give them unbiased and ethical advice.”

Bryce Harlow Foundation is proud to support Caitlin as she pursues her degree and her career.

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 3, 2014 – The Bryce Harlow Foundation, the national capital’s premier organization supporting the profession of lobbying and advocacy, today announced the 20 recipients of its prestigious graduate-school fellowship for 2014-2015.

Bryce Harlow fellowships are awarded annually to exceptional graduate students who aspire to have careers in government relations and lobbying. Bryce Harlow Fellows attend graduate school part-time while working full-time in a variety of settings, including Capitol Hill, government agencies, lobbying firms and trade associations.

The 2014-15 class of twenty Fellows was chosen from nearly 80 applicants. The Fellows are pursuing graduate degrees such as law, business and public policy at Washington, D.C.-area schools including American University, the Catholic University of America, George Mason University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia. The Foundation considers its Bryce Harlow Fellows to be the future of professional advocacy. The fellows must be committed to practicing advocacy with the highest level of integrity. In addition to an $8,000 award, Fellows are assigned mentors from the Foundation’s board of governors.

2014-15 Bryce Harlow Fellows
1. Doug Andres – Communications Director, Committee on Rules –U.S. House of Representatives
2. Matt Baker – Associate, Policy and Special Projects, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
3. Rudy Barry – Managing Director, Whitmer & Worrall
4. Samantha Bilotta – Director, Banner Public Affairs
5. Terry Camp – Legislative Correspondent, Senator Orrin Hatch
6. Logan Feree – Senior Legislative Assistant, Congressman Jared Huffman
7. Ashley Fingarson – Director of Legislative Affairs, AlliantGroup
8. Caroline Goncalves – Associate Director, Federal Advocacy, The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
9. Jordan Hess – Legislative Assistant, Senator Mike Lee
10. Skiffington Holderness – Staff Director, U.S. Senate Committee of Small Business & Entrepreneurship
11. Jeffrey Long – Legislative Assistant, Senator Richard Blumenthal
12. Carolyn Lowry – PAC and Communications Specialist, US Bancorp
13. Bryan Maxwell – Senior Legislative Assistant, Congressman Dan Maffel
14. Caitlin McHale – Executive Coordinator, Global Treasury, Mars Incorporated
15. Elizabeth Murphy – Senior Policy Associate, The Sheridan Group
16. Laurie Sussman – Government Relations Manager, Rockwell Collins
17. John Thirolf – Director of Regulatory Affairs, Enel Green Power North America
18. Camille Touton – Professional Staff, U.S. Department of Interior
19. Amy Wells – Manager, Development and Industry Research, National Beer Wholesalers Association
20. Trevor White – Registered Lobbyist Combest, Sell & Associates

About the Bryce Harlow Foundation
The Bryce Harlow Foundation was established in 1981 in honor of the late Bryce Harlow to promote integrity within the lobbying profession and to increase the understanding of its essential role in the development of sound public policy. Bryce Harlow, who served under four U.S. presidents, established the first White House Congressional Liaison Office and served as its director during the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.bryceharlow.org.

Contact: Barbara Faculjak
Direct: 202-654-7812
Mobile: 703-402-9094
Email: bfaculjak@bryceharlow.org

Today’s post comes from Former Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellow James Sonne.

As a Bryce Harlow Fellow in 2006, I was honored to receive the financial support from the foundation because, of course, studying and working in the nation’s capital can be a costly endeavor. However, I am most appreciative of the opportunity to meet like-minded professionals in the advocacy field at all levels. At many steps in my career that has taken me from Capitol Hill, to a large corporate law firm and now to a trade association, the dynamic board members and fellows of the Bryce Harlow Foundation have served as a priceless sounding board and source of advice and assistance.

Whether looking to meet other students who were balancing full-time jobs with graduate study, seeking advice from my official mentor, or reaching out to Bryce Harlow staff or current and former board members, I was consistently astonished by the group of helpful and dynamic professionals I have met through the fellowship. Even after the fellowship ends, the Bryce Harlow Foundation facilitates networking through formal and informal social events that have been both informative on an intellectual level and provide for the chance to get to know some of the most respected members of the professional advocacy community. Hearing about the experiences of senior government relations professionals who know certain complex policy-areas inside-and-out and have relationships based on their integrity and such vast knowledge has been inspiring and makes me proud to be part of this important field. As I continue my career, I look forward to learning from the many additional Bryce Harlow alumni and board members who all demonstrate such high levels of professionalism and integrity.

James Sonne received the Bryce Harlow Fellowship in 2006 when he worked on Capitol Hill and earned an M.A. in Government and M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins. He is now Assistant Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Today’s post comes from current Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellow Elliot Friedman.

For the past three years, I have had the incredible privilege to learn and grow as a Bryce Harlow Fellow. When I first applied for the fellowship program, I never could have imagined how fortunate I was to join a group that is dedicated to promoting ethical advocacy and enriching the lives of professional advocates. However, after the last three years, I know that I could not have grown into the lobbyist I am today or represent my association the way I do today without what I have learned from my time as a Bryce Harlow Fellow.

One of the most beneficial aspects of the Bryce Harlow Fellowship is the mentoring each fellow receives. During the year, each fellow is as assigned a mentor who is an active lobbyist and member of the Bryce Harlow Board. The Bryce Harlow staff considers the preferences of each mentee and mentor when choosing mentoring pairs and tries to find each fellow a mentor well suited for their specialty and professional goals. In my time as a fellow, each of my mentors has helped me in different ways including career planning, giving strategic advice, or welcoming me into the network of all of the lobbyists in his firm. One of these relationships has developed so strongly over time, that my association now regularly co-sponsors events with my mentor’s lobbying firm. My association would not have had access to or known about these events without the relationship I have with my mentor. Furthermore, while each fellow has an individual mentor mentee relationship, the Bryce Harlow beoard is also a dynamic network, full of members who are easily accessible and happy to assist fellows as they move to advance in the advocacy world.

Beyond the mentorship that I have received as a fellow, the friendships and connections I have made with other fellows have been some of the most rewarding parts of the fellowship program. Developing connections with colleagues while simultaneously balancing a full time job in advocacy or government with the pursuit of a graduate degree is a difficult task. However, the Bryce Harlow Foundation has built an incredible network for current and former fellows to use for professional, academic, and social pursuits. The Bryce Harlow Foundation fosters this through regular events with members of the board, including a fantastic “people you should know” lunch series, introducing fellows to a wide assortment of speakers designed to assist in each fellow’s professional development. Additionally, fellows often get together informally to continue building relationships.

Finally, the generosity of the foundation to its fellows is quite meaningful. Graduate school is an expensive endeavor, and the financial assistance has given me serious relief in meeting my financial obligations as I pursue my degree.

Again, I cannot overstate the benefit I have received from the Bryce Harlow Foundation over the past three years. If you are eligible, I highly encourage you to apply. I look forward to welcoming you as a Bryce Harlow Alumni to one of the best organizations in Washington.

Elliot Friedman is the Legislative Representative and PAC Manager for the National Association of Postal Supervisors and is a third year evening student at The George Washington University Law School.