Bryce Harlow Foundation

The Bryce Harlow Foundation believes that sound public policy benefits when the voices at the table are strong, honest and articulate. That is why we are a proud sponsor of the Professional Women in Advocacy Conference taking place December 8-10 in Washington, DC.  The tagline for this conference says it all: “When women have a seat at the public policy table, everyone benefits.” This national conference will provide professional development and leadership training to women in all areas of advocacy including government relations and public affairs. The organizers, all prominent women lobbyists themselves, worked hard to craft an experience that will both inspire participants and prepare them for success.

The conference will highlight, at its Power Women in Advocacy reception, eight outstanding women advocates, nominated by their peers for their achievements in five categories: federal issue campaign, state issue campaign, campaign for women serving women, veteran practitioner and up-and-coming practitioner.  While men still outnumber women in the lobbying ranks, it’s important to recognize and pay tribute to notable women who have gained notice from their peers for their effective expertise and performance.  Members of the Bryce Harlow board were asked to serve on the awards selection panel and I’m pleased to share the winners in each category below.

Dorothy Coleman, Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, will be honored in the Federal Issue Campaign category for her outstanding leadership during the fiscal cliff crisis of December 2012. “Dorothy’s advocacy efforts on behalf of the NAM helped to prevent the largest tax increase in history and to bring about positive tax changes for manufacturers,” said her colleague Laura Narvaiz when nominating her for the award.

Amber Harding and Marta Beresin of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless are the recipients of the State Issue Campaign award for their tireless efforts to ensure that homeless families in Washington, DC were protected against potential new laws that could have been harmful. “Harding and Beresin mobilized a broad community of supporters and worked with the Gray Administration to soften the impact of certain provisions and with the DC Council to remove provisions that remained punitive and harmful,” stated their colleague Patricia Mullahy Fugere.

The honorees in the Women Serving Women Campaign category are Barbara S. Wahl, Kristine J. Dunne and Alison Lima Andersen, attorneys at Arent Fox, for their years of work fighting for the rights of women who have suffered gender discrimination in the awarding of farm loans by the USDA. “As a result of their excellent efforts, the government has offered an administrative claim program that makes over $1 billion available to women who can prove gender discrimination,” said Roderic Boggs of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

The winner in the Up-and-Coming Practitioner category is Mary Kate Cunningham, manager for public policy at the American Society of Association Executives Center for Association Leadership. Although she has only been a registered lobbyist for one year, Mary Kate’s co-worker Robert Hay stated that “without a doubt, she has a bright future as a female leader and star lobbyist.” She will be recognized for her impressive ability to simultaneously organize her association’s annual member fly-in (with record attendance) while also coordinating grassroots efforts to fight a major Senate amendment. She also makes significant contributions to Running Start, an organization dedicated to bringing young women into politics.

The final honoree in the Veteran Practitioner category is Martie Kendrick of Patton Boggs for her impact on health care legislation over the past twenty years. Among countless other achievements, Martie’s advocacy efforts resulted in the inclusion of colorectal cancer screening benefits as one of the first Medicare preventative benefits, as well as statutory language that expanded funding to mammography for lower income women.“ Not only has Martie represented clients successfully before Congress in virtually every major piece of health, Medicare and Medicaid legislation, but she has also achieved many legislative victories on behalf of the firm’s pro bono clients such as Bright Beginnings Day Care Centers and the Greater Washington Urban League,” said Kevin O’Neill of Patton Boggs.

For more information and to register for the conference, please visit womeninadvocacy.com.

The following blog post comes from Christy Robinson, a former Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellow. Ms. Robinson is currently an analyst at Matrix Global Advisors, a Washington, DC-based economic policy consulting firm. She graduated from George Mason University with a master’s in public policy and was named a Bryce Harlow Fellow in 2012.

Pursuing a graduate degree in public policy while working full-time is a challenge, to say the least. In light of this, I was surprised by the dearth of scholarships and fellowships for which I was eligible as a part-time graduate student. At times, I wondered melodramatically if I were being punished for working while getting my master’s degree. Then I found the Bryce Harlow Foundation.

Offering financial and professional support to part-time graduate students who work full-time, the Foundation displays appreciation and sensitivity for the rigorous schedule a Bryce Harlow Fellow maintains. Fortunate enough to be selected as a Fellow for the 2012-2013 academic year, I found it immensely helpful and reassuring to have the availability of resources – networking lunches, happy hours, mentoring, and more – without the pressure to engage beyond my ability. Profoundly grateful for the Foundation’s support, I was also appreciative of the confidence they placed in me to make of the Fellowship what I would. As a result, I attended as many events as I could and developed a wonderful mentoring relationship with the board member who was my assigned mentor.

If anything could make me want to keep going to graduate school now that I’ve completed my program, being able to remain a Bryce Harlow Fellow would be at the top of the list. Fortunately, I can stay engaged with the Foundation as an alumna and leave my textbooks on the shelf.

The Bryce Harlow Foundation is pleased to announce its 2013-14 class of Bryce Harlow Fellows. Our prestigious fellowship is awarded to exceptional graduate students with career goals in government relations and lobbying who demonstrate high academic achievement and leadership skills. 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 Bryce Harlow Fellowship selection was once again a very competitive process.  The committee, chaired this year by Jo Cooper, selected 20 fellows from almost 70 applications that were submitted on-line for the first time this year. The new class of fellows represents six major universities, including American University, the Catholic University of America, George Mason University, George Washington University, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University.  Three Fellows are MBA students, six are studying law, and 11 are pursuing Masters degrees in public policy and government.

The Foundation considers its Bryce Harlow Fellows to be the future of professional advocacy – those who are committed to practicing the art of lobbying with the highest level of integrity.  In addition to the $8,000 award, Fellows participate in mentoring relationships with the Foundation’s board of governors. Applications for the 2014-15 academic year will be available on our website in January.

Bryce Harlow Foundation 2013-14 Fellows

The following post comes from current and former Bryce Harlow Fellow Natalie McIntyre. Ms. McIntyre received the award in 2011 and 2012. She is now a policy administrative assistant at K&L Gates. Ms. McIntyre earned a Master of Public Policy degree at Georgetown University.

The Bryce Harlow fellowship has truly been an amazing and rewarding experience. My relationships through the foundation have given me the opportunity to work at the GOP Presidential convention, sit with Senator John McCain at the rewards dinner, and gain a mentor who is very well-respected and well-known in the policy world. My mentor was not only someone I looked up to and trusted for career advice, but she was (and is) a true friend and I know our relationship will continue to grow.

Not only are the members of the foundation inspirational, but so are the other fellows — past and present. The BHF has a gift for bringing together fellows from all different backgrounds, and with different experiences, but we all have the same goal — to be the future leaders of America.

The combination of the people, the experience, and the reputation of being a Bryce Harlow Fellow has truly been gratifying and rewarding in countless ways and I am truly honored that I have had the opportunity to be a part of this incredible family.

The Bryce Harlow Foundation is excited to award Lindsey Mears with the winning paper from the Ethics in Lobbying Workshop. Ms. Mears is a recent graduate of the Masters degree program in Political Communication at American University. She participated in the Ethics in Lobbying Workshop to enhance her understanding of both the perception and legislation of lobbying activity. She is currently working at an advocacy nonprofit and wants to continue working in issue advocacy.

You can read the full text of her paper here.

Congratulations to Representative John Dingell, who will become the longest-serving representative in history on June 7, 2013! Representing the 12th congressional district of Michigan, Rep. Dingell is the current Dean of the House of Representatives. He was awarded the Bryce Harlow Foundation award in 1996 for his years of committed service in the House of Representatives as a part of a career that echoes the work and life of Bryce Harlow.

Rep. Dingell was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1956 and has been reelected 29 times since then. He began his career by fighting for civil rights, clean water, Medicare, and American workers’ rights. Throughout his tenure, he has also advocated for protecting American jobs, improving the safety of our food and drug supply, strengthening consumer product safety, and implementing pipeline safety measures. He has authored many acts and bills over his career, including the Endangered Species Act, the 1990 Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Affordable Care Act, and the Patient’s Bill of Rights.

The Bryce Harlow Foundation would like to extend its congratulations to Rep. Dingell for this historic accomplishment!

Today’s post comes from Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association and the Vice Chairman of the Bryce Harlow Foundation.

One can’t open a newspaper, watch television or scan social media without being overwhelmed by the partisan tone which has engulfed seemingly every public policy debate in Washington. Whether it’s healthcare or immigration, sequestration or tax reform; it appears as if all public policy matters have been classified as either liberal or conservative, thus dooming them to partisan gridlock. In reality, those of us working in government relations should recognize that public policy outcomes must always be directed toward the greater good. For the legislation we often seek to develop affects real working people each and every day.

The challenges currently facing our country and this Congress are complex and go beyond simple partisan talking points. As public policy advocates, our commitment must be to advance workable solutions which transcend the all too prevalent political tone in our society. We must champion the core pillars of our profession to build coalitions and unite diverse voices to help solve these pressing challenges.

When Bryce Harlow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, it was for, “A life spent reconciling divergent interests, serving high moral principles, and channeling the forces of public policy toward the public good.” We must follow his example and commitment to service. The issues our country faces are too great to be eternally mired by political disagreement. They represent an opportunity to serve our nation by advancing solutions that truly benefit the greater good.

Today’s post comes from Charlie Black’s acceptance speech at the Bryce Harlow Foundation Awards Dinner.

In a city where pride often trumps humility, our 2013 Bryce Harlow Foundation Awards Dinner honoree Charlie Black regards Bryce Harlow as the “greatest man ever to practice our profession.”

“Bryce Harlow proved that you don’t have to be an elected official to make a big difference in public policy or in the direction of the government,” he said.  “Bryce spent the majority of his time mentoring and advising others as anonymously as he could. It was said of him that in a room this size, full of people, almost every one of them had received advice from Bryce Harlow and none of them knew it about the others.”

Mr. Black listed six characteristics that Bryce Harlow himself deemed to be invaluable to a lobbyist: Integrity, willingness to work hard, adaptability to change, humility and perspective, and understanding of the processes of government and the ability to assimilate details. Mr. Black specifically focused on humility, saying it is the hardest to achieve.

“It’s about your company, your industry, your client, the thousands of employees and potential employees and consumers that you represent,” he said. Understate your role and lift up your client; lift up your business.”

We were pleased to honor Mr. Black at our Bryce Harlow Foundation Awards Dinner because of his proven dedication to the advocacy industry.

Today’s post comes from Senator Mark Warner’s acceptance speech at the Bryce Harlow Awards Dinner. 

At the Bryce Harlow Awards Dinner on April 16, honoree Senator Mark Warner urged guests to practice bipartisanship in politics and to reach out to the other side of the aisle.

“As a former business guy, I always thought it was strange, as I went into politics, to think that people in politics would suddenly decide that they divide the room into red and blue and say, ‘I’m only going to take ideas from this side of the room and not from that side of the room,’” he said.

Senator Warner specifically cited the issue of both debt and deficit as an area where a bipartisan approach is necessary. He directly appealed to the guests to find someone with differing views and discuss these issues.

“We will not be destroyed from outside; we can only be destroyed if we are unwilling to step up and take responsibility of paying our bills and making sure our country’s fiscal path and balance sheet is set on the right path,” he said.

Senator Warner’s call for both sides of the aisle to work together is one that Bryce Harlow himself championed, which is one of the many reasons we were pleased to honor Senator Warner at our awards dinner.

Today’s post comes from Al Thompson, principal at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.

Too many of the American people hold this common assumption that lobbyists are merely
a special interest group whose sole purpose is to help the privileged receive favors from the government; and unfortunately, there are too few stories available to combat such judgment. The truth is that we spend a great deal of our time advocating for clients who cover wide swaths of society. For instance, over the past three years I have had the distinct privilege to represent Monster.com, along with its subsidiary Military.com. Military.com is the largest military member website in the country with over 9 million subscribers, and it remains one of the top ten largest news sites on the internet.

Military.com has put forth a significant effort to develop a system that assists military
personnel as they search for employment once they leave the service. It has also conducted extensive research on the barriers that military members often face when trying to find civilian employment. Our government, along with the private sector, has created many successful programs that have resulted in veterans getting hired; however, even despite these triumphs the veteran unemployment rate remains well above the national average. The primary barrier for a veteran seeking work is their ability to translate his or her skills in a way that civilian employers can understand. I can speak personally about this issue, for I have experienced this challenge myself; when I left the military, I had to pay someone who could translate my resume in such a way that it highlighted my qualifications for work on Capitol Hill.

It has been an absolute privilege to work with executives from Military.com and share in their pursuit to educate Members of Congress, and their staffs, on the ways that our government can harness technology to improve the employment transition programs for military personnel. These efforts have resulted in the improvement such programs, such as the Vow to Hiring Heroes Act. I can say that when President Obama signed this law into action, it was one of my proudest days as a lobbyist, because I was able to serve those who serve us.