Advocacy for a Better Tomorrow
With expertise in lobbying, third party engagement, strategic communications, issue campaigns and media relations, BG Advocacy develops tailored strategies to help clients tackle their most pressing needs.
Bryson Gillette Advocacy (BG Advocacy) is a Black-owned and majority women and people of color government advocacy and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. and California.
We are a mission-driven agency that fights to make the world more just, safe, healthy, and prosperous for all.
BG Advocacy works to position our clients to advance their causes, influence policy, and achieve maximum impact by drawing on our deep knowledge of and relationships with Congress, the White House, federal agencies, and other key third-party stakeholders and decision-makers.
WHO WE ARE
LEADERSHIP
Damara Catlett
With nearly two decades of experience in issue campaign strategy, lobbying, strategic communications, and corporate third-party engagement, Damara Catlett brings a thoughtful and creative approach to her work managing a broad portfolio of clients in tech, media, civil rights, and social justice.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Read full bio...
Damara was a government affairs principal at the Raben Group for 13 years, leading cutting edge issue campaigns. She worked with Airbnb during the company’s nascent years to build its strategy around domestic lobbying, strategic communications, and partner engagement. She spearheaded efforts for We Must Count, drawing national attention to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. She helped manage the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign, which brought national awareness to Stand Your Ground laws following the shooting of Trayvon Martin. She led a multi-state civic engagement campaign for the National Urban League that reached over 350,000 African American voters. Damara got her start working as a client strategies manager at Winning Connections, where she managed voter contact campaigns for nonprofits, political party organizations, and candidates, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She is a board member of the Voter Participation Center, a member of the National Institute for Lobbying Ethics’s AI Task Force, an advisory board member for the Center for Democracy and Technology, was a New Leaders Council Institute Fellow, and served on the inaugural Kennedy Center Culture Caucus, where she worked with afrofuturists forecasting emerging tech policy issues through the arts.
DIVERSITY
At BG Advocacy, diversity is more than a value – it’s an asset critical to our success. The Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, Native American, and LGBTQ Caucuses make up more than half of the Democratic Caucus on the Hill. We have decades of experience engaging these caucuses and the entire Congress. We believe that diverse teams are necessary in order to communicate effectively with diverse communities and design more persuasive and authentic campaigns – and our clients agree. We pride ourselves not just on the diversity of our team, but on our multicultural competencies and communication expertise.
SERVICES
BG Advocacy combines traditional lobbying and advocacy with a full suite of communications services offered by Bryson Gillette, leveraging their expertise in narrative development and storytelling—key elements for driving policy and movement change. This cross-functional approach enables us to deliver everything our clients need to achieve their goals.
We understand the constellation of players, the intricacies of policymaking, and serve as our clients’ trusted eyes and ears in Washington. BG Advocacy and Bryson Gillette clients range from tech reform champions testifying before Congress to Fortune 100 companies that need to ensure their work is understood on the Hill to nonprofits championing legislation that will better serve their communities. Some of our clients already have government affairs teams but need to add a particular expertise, while others are new to Capitol Hill. In each case, we tailor our services to each client’s unique needs.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Third Party Engagement
Too often, organizations and companies wait until they are under fire or losing before engaging the constellation of third-party groups that have influence in Washington. Nonprofit, advocacy, civil rights, and civil society organizations play a critical role in the federal policymaking landscape. Engaging them is an integral part of any government affairs strategy. BGAdvocacy helps clients proactively establish relationships with the right third parties based on shared policy priorities, in order to increase our clients’ visibility and influence.
Direct Lobbying
Lobbying can be strategic guidance from afar or it can be hands-on. We do both, and everything in between. We map congressional stakeholders based on committee assignments, leadership roles, and district demographics. We monitor key committee hearings and gather intelligence. We design Hill briefings customized to the issue and the offices. We offer a full suite of services to strengthen our clients’ federal advocacy efforts.
Policy and Strategic Communications
Strong, carefully designed communication is often the deciding factor in an initiative’s success or failure. We work with clients to identify their core audiences and define the actions they want those audiences to take. From there, we build a federally focused communications strategy, with messaging tailored to move the core audiences on the Hill and in the Administration, as well as a list of target media outlets, awards, and other means of positioning our clients for impact and success.
Issue and Policy Campaigns
BG Advocacy specializes in creating and running issue campaigns that leverage the power of strategic communications, earned media, lobbying, and public affairs. Our approach is tailored to address your unique challenges and objectives, whether your issue is at the forefront of national discourse or requires a compelling narrative to break through.