Frequently Asked Questions

Monument Advocacy is a bipartisan government relations, public affairs, and strategic communications firm based in Washington, DC. Founded in 2006, the firm helps corporations, trade associations, non-profits, and emerging companies navigate federal policy, shape regulation, and manage reputation across earned, paid, and digital channels. Monument operates from three offices — downtown Washington, DC; Capitol Hill; and Seattle, Washington. 

Monument Advocacy provides integrated advocacy services across four practice lines: government relations (federal lobbying, regulatory engagement, appropriations, and political strategy), public affairs (issue campaigns, coalition management, third-party mobilization), strategic and crisis communications (reputation defense, executive communications, media relations), and digital services (social strategy, content, video, and website development). The firm’s full-team model puts industry veterans from multiple disciplines on a single client account so legislative, regulatory, communications, and digital work move in coordination rather than in silos. 

A bipartisan firm employs senior professionals with deep relationships and credibility across both major political parties. For clients, this matters because federal policy outcomes almost always require building support from members of Congress, committee staff, and executive branch officials in both parties. A one-party firm can be effective when their party holds power, but it leaves clients exposed during divided government, after elections, or on issues where the relevant champions sit on the other side of the aisle. Monument has been structured as a bipartisan firm since its founding in 2006, with Republican and Democratic professionals working as one team on each client account. 

Monument Advocacy is headquartered at 975 F Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20004, in the downtown DC business district. The firm also operates a Capitol Hill office at 440 1st Street NW, Suite 430, Washington, DC 20001, which sits directly across from the U.S. Capitol complex, and a West Coast office at 1601 5th Avenue, Suite 1000, Seattle, Washington 98101. The downtown DC office can be reached at (202) 719-9999 and the Capitol Hill office at (202) 808-8853. 

Monument Advocacy offers four integrated service lines. Government relations covers legislative strategy, White House engagement, regulatory advocacy, political positioning, appropriations and directed spending, federal procurement, and policymaker mapping. Public affairs covers message development, media relations, coalition management, ally mobilization, opinion research, issue campaigns, and target-market engagement. Strategic and crisis communications covers reputation defense, executive and corporate communications, litigation communications, CSR and sustainability messaging, and earned and paid media campaigns. Digital services cover social media strategy, audience targeting, video production, website development, and newsletters. Clients can engage Monument for a single service line or for a coordinated package across all four. 

Lobbying is the narrow legal activity of directly communicating with covered government officials to influence specific legislative or regulatory decisions, and it must be disclosed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act when it crosses certain thresholds. Government relations is the broader discipline that includes lobbying but also covers policy research, political analysis, coalition building, grassroots engagement, and long-term relationship management with policymakers and their staff. Public affairs is broader still, extending the work into the public conversation through media relations, third-party validators, coalition campaigns, and reputation management with stakeholders beyond government. Monument integrates these disciplines because federal outcomes almost always require all three working together. A regulatory decision at FDA, an appropriations earmark, or a tax provision in reconciliation rarely turns on lobbying alone — it turns on whether the right policymakers see the issue in the right context, whether allied voices are speaking up at the right moments, and whether the public narrative is moving in the client’s direction. Monument assigns a single team across the disciplines so the lobbyist, the communications strategist, the coalition manager, and the digital lead are working from one playbook. 

Lobbying is the practice of communicating directly with legislators, congressional staff, or executive branch officials to influence the development, passage, or implementation of legislation, regulation, or government policy. In the United States, federal lobbying activity that meets specific time and compensation thresholds must be registered and reported quarterly under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Lobbying takes many forms: meetings with members of Congress and committee staff, written comments on proposed regulations, testimony before congressional committees, briefings for executive branch officials, and coordinated outreach during key legislative moments such as markups, floor votes, or appropriations cycles. Effective lobbying combines deep substantive expertise on the policy in question with established relationships and an understanding of legislative and regulatory process. 

Coalition management is the practice of organizing multiple companies, trade associations, advocacy groups, or other stakeholders into a coordinated advocacy effort around a shared policy goal. A well-built coalition expands the political constituency for an issue, brings together voices that policymakers find credible from different angles (industry, labor, consumer, regional, ideological), and creates the scale needed to compete for attention on Capitol Hill and in the press. Coalition management work includes recruiting and vetting members, drafting governance and messaging documents, running regular member calls and strategy meetings, producing collateral and Hill materials, coordinating direct advocacy and media activity, and managing the budget. Monument runs and supports coalitions across technology, health care, transportation, energy, and other sectors. 

Monument works with Fortune 1000 corporations, emerging and growth-stage companies, trade associations, non-profits, foundations, and C-suite executives who need senior-level policy and communications counsel. Industry experience spans technology and telecommunications, health care, travel and transportation, food and agriculture, energy and environment, cybersecurity, tax, trade, federal procurement, and appropriations. The firm’s client mix intentionally combines established corporate clients with newer entrants and mission-driven organizations, which keeps the team fluent in both incumbent policy fights and emerging issues. 

Monument’s core practice is federal — Congress, the White House, and federal agencies — but the firm regularly supports clients on state, local, and international engagements when those are integrated with a federal strategy. Examples include coordinating a federal regulatory advocacy effort with parallel state policy work, supporting a CEO through a state-level reputational moment with national implications, or aligning U.S. federal positioning with engagement in other jurisdictions. For clients who need pure state-level lobbying in a specific state capital, Monument frequently partners with vetted local firms and quarterbacks the overall strategy. 

Monument provides political strategy and political-landscape analysis as part of its government relations work but does not operate clients’ PACs or direct individual political giving. Where clients need political engagement integrated into a broader advocacy strategy, the firm advises on positioning and coordinates with separate counsel and compliance professionals. 

Monument’s government relations practice covers ten focus areas: Appropriations, Cybersecurity, Energy and Environment, Federal Procurement, Food and Agriculture, Health Care, Tax, Technology and Telecommunications, Trade, and Travel and Transportation. Each practice is led by senior professionals with substantive policy experience and active relationships across the relevant committees, agencies, and stakeholder communities. The Public Affairs practice runs across all of these sectors and adds dedicated capacity in coalition management, issue campaigns, media relations, and crisis response. 

Ashley Hoy leads Monument’s government relations practice, drawing on more than 12 years as a senior Capitol Hill aide — including roles in House Republican Whip Roy Blunt’s office, the Senate Republican Conference Vice Chair’s office under Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and as Chief of Staff to Rep. Sue Myrick

Appropriations: Jordan Evich and T.A. Hawks lead Monument’s Appropriations practice. Jordan brings over a decade of experience as a top aide on the House Appropriations Committee, while T.A. draws on his tenure as Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and years as Chief of Staff to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran.

Cybersecurity: Tatyana Bolton leads Monument’s Cybersecurity practice, with a background spanning senior roles at Google’s Security Center of Excellence and the R Street Institute’s Cybersecurity & Emerging Threats program, along with graduate work in security studies from Georgetown University.

Energy & Environment: John Mulligan leads Monument’s Energy & Environment practice, bringing experience as Legislative Director and Chief of Staff to Rep. Adam Smith, combined with private sector energy leadership roles at BrightSource Energy, Imperium Renewables, and his own energy consulting firm.

Federal Procurement: Julie Dunne leads Monument’s Federal Procurement practice, with senior government experience that includes serving as Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service — overseeing $75 billion in government-wide acquisitions — as well as senior counsel roles on the House Oversight and Senate Homeland Security committees.

Food & Agriculture: T.A. Hawks leads Monument’s Food & Agriculture practice, drawing on his experience as Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and his role helping negotiate and pass the 2014 Farm Bill as a senior aide to Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran.

Health Care: Joel White leads Monument’s Health Care practice, with more than two decades of experience including service as Staff Director of the House Ways and Means Committee — where he helped enact the Medicare prescription drug benefit and Health Savings Accounts — and as founder and CEO of Horizon Government Affairs.

Tax: Kimberly Ellis leads Monument’s Tax practice, with expertise developed as Legislative Director to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and previously at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative — experience that earned her recognition as one of Roll Call’s Top Ten Trade and Tax Staffers.

Technology & Telecommunications: Anderson Heiman leads Monument’s Technology & Telecommunications practice, bringing nearly a decade of high-level government relations campaigns on behalf of technology companies and expertise in intermediary liability, consumer data privacy, and government surveillance policy, built on his tenure as the first dedicated technology policy staffer in the Senate.

Trade: Rich Thomas leads Monument’s Trade practice, with involvement in every major trade negotiation over the past 20 years and particular expertise in U.S.-China relations, market access, and export controls, grounded in his background as Legislative Director to Rep. Bill Pascrell and his strong ties to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees.

Travel & Transportation: Kate Christensen Mills and Stewart Verdery lead Monument’s Travel & Transportation practice. Kate draws on her experience as an Assistant Director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and as senior counsel to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, while Stewart brings his perspective as the first Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning at the Department of Homeland Security, where he oversaw CBP and TSA and led policy on travel, immigration, and cargo security.

Yes. Monument’s health care practice supports clients across the regulatory and legislative agenda that drives the sector, including engagement with FDA, CMS, ONC, HHS, and the congressional committees of jurisdiction. The practice covers reimbursement, coverage, drug and device approval, digital health, health data and AI, and the broader policy environment shaping market access. Policy is driving market disruption across health care, and Monument helps clients shape outcomes, manage regulatory risk, and build organizations positioned for long-term success. 

Yes. Monument’s technology and telecommunications practice covers AI policy, data privacy, content and platform policy, spectrum and broadband, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and the cross-cutting technology issues moving through Congress and federal agencies. The firm advises both established technology companies and emerging entrants and runs coalitions on several active technology policy fights. 

Monument’s process starts with a discovery conversation to understand the client’s policy environment, business objectives, internal stakeholders, and the decisions the client needs government to make or avoid. From there, the firm builds a written strategic plan that lays out the policy landscape, the relevant decision-makers, the coalition and communications posture, the metrics that will define success, and the team Monument will put on the account. Once engaged, a senior account lead serves as the day-to-day point of contact, with subject-matter experts and discipline leads (lobbying, communications, coalitions, digital) brought in based on what the work requires. Clients receive structured weekly or biweekly updates, real-time alerts during legislative or regulatory moments, and formal performance reviews on the cadence the client prefers. 

Federal lobbying typically moves through five overlapping stages. First, intelligence and mapping: identifying the bills, regulations, or appropriations decisions that affect the client and the specific members, staff, and agency officials who shape them. Second, message and material development: building the policy ask, the supporting evidence, the leave-behinds, and the talking points that withstand scrutiny from policy staff. Third, direct engagement: meetings with members and staff, comments on rulemakings, congressional testimony where appropriate, and briefings for executive branch decision-makers. Fourth, coalition and validator activation: ensuring the client is not the only voice in the room, bringing in trade associations, allied companies, and credible third parties at the right moments. Fifth, monitoring and adjustment: tracking how the issue moves through the process, adjusting positioning as the politics shift, and capturing the wins (a favorable committee vote, an inserted report language, a withdrawn proposal) into a clear record for the client. 

Monument defines success metrics with each client at the start of an engagement, because what counts as a result varies by goal. For a client seeking an appropriations outcome, the metric is dollars secured or report language adopted. For a regulatory advocacy effort, the metric is the specific change in the proposed or final rule. For a long-term policy campaign, the metrics are usually a combination of policymaker meetings held, champions cultivated, coalition members recruited, earned media placed, and shifts in the public narrative. Reporting typically includes a written status update on a regular cadence (weekly or biweekly), an activity log of meetings and engagement, a media and coalition tracker where relevant, and a formal review at a cadence the client chooses — often quarterly. The firm believes in being concrete about what changed because of the work rather than reporting only on activity. 

Most Monument engagements are ongoing retainers because federal policy is a continuous environment rather than a discrete project. Clients commonly engage on an annual basis with the option to scale up or scale down based on what is moving in Congress and the agencies. Project-based engagements are also available — for example, a defined appropriations push, a single regulatory comment, a discrete crisis response, or a targeted coalition launch. The firm is direct in scoping conversations about what an engagement can and cannot accomplish in a given timeline. 

The fastest way to start a conversation is to contact Monument directly. Visit our contact page to submit an inquiry. Initial conversations are confidential and exploratory — the goal is to understand whether Monument is the right fit for the work and to outline what an engagement could look like before any commitment.