ROBERT A. RAPOZA, President and principal, has more than three decades’ experience as a professional lobbyist and is an expert on the federal budget and appropriations process, with special expertise in federal housing and community development policy. He has been responsible for numerous legislative accomplishments including saving federal rural housing and community development programs from budget cuts, establishing the Intermediary Re-lending Program at the Agriculture Department, sustaining and increasing funding for community development programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, promoting the creation of a YouthBuild program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and, most recently, successfully steering the New Markets Tax Credit program to enactment. He first became involved with community development issues while serving with the Massachusetts Department of Community Affairs. After moving to Washington, D.C., he held executive positions with the Rural Housing Alliance, the National Rural Housing Coalition (which he continues to serve as executive secretary and legislative director), and the Rural Coalition before establishing Rapoza Associates in 1984. A graduate of Boston College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he has served on the boards of several housing and community development organizations and has been profiled in the Washington Post and in the authoritative Beacham’s Guide to Key Lobbyists.

bob@rapoza.org

Main: 202-393-5225

Direct: 202-204-3955

 

ALISON FEIGHAN, Vice President and partner, has been involved in the field of economic development and housing since 1984 and has more than 25 years’ experience as a lobbyist in Washington. She has been instrumental in developing successful legislative initiatives on a range of issues including microenterprise development, community reinvestment, rural economic development, community development venture capital, tax credit financing, and appropriations. Before joining Rapoza Associates, Ms. Feighan administered a housing services program for a community action agency in Quincy, Massachusetts and served as a consultant on fair housing and community reinvestment issues in Boston. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University.

alison@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3953

 

 LANA CHAPMAN, Office Manager, has been a key figure at Rapoza Associates since 1992, involved in all aspects of the firm’s evolution and management. Previously she served as office manager for the consulting firm of Temple, Barker & Sloane (later merged with Mercer Management) and as the administrative assistant to the legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

lana@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3956

 

ELIZABETH FIVEASH, Policy Associate, has been with Rapoza Associates  since March 2008. Previously she worked with Teach for America and in government relations for an agricultural trade association. Elizabeth is a  graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and History and is candidate for a M.S. in Social and Public Policy from Georgetown University.

elizabeth@rapoza.org

Direct: 202-204-3957