RAPOZA ASSOCIATES is a public interest lobbying and government relations firm located in Washington, D.C., that specializes in providing comprehensive legislative and support services to community development organizations, associations, and public agencies. Our clients are involved in a wide range of community economic development, rural development, low-income housing, education, workforce, finance, and community transportation issues.
We’re unusual among Washington lobbyists in bringing to our work extensive hands-on experience with the programs and clients we represent. Staff members have been directly involved in community development work such as providing affordable housing and managing community-based organizations. When we argue the merits of community development on Capitol Hill, we speak from experience.
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ROBERT A. RAPOZA, President and principal, has more than two 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.
Phone: (202) 204-3955
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ALISON FEIGHAN, Vice President and partner, has been involved in the field of economic development and housing since 1984 and has more than ten 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.
Phone: (202) 204-3953
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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.
Phone: (202) 204-3956
TA'ADHMEEKA BEAMON, Executive Assistant, has been with the firm since February 2006. Prior to joining Rapoza Associates, she worked in radio & television broadcasting and print journalism. Later work with a domestic violence non-profit led her to transition towards assisting women and children through economic development and social change. Ta’Adhmeeka will begin graduate work in International Peace & Conflict Resolution in the Fall of 2008. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Campbell University with a degree in Mass Communications.
Phone: (202) 204-3950
ANNE LAW, Policy Associate, recently joined the firm and will be focusing on rural housing issues and micro lending programs. Anne has broad experience in law, legislative affairs, and politics. Before joining Rapoza Associates, Anne was an attorney in Washington, DC, where she worked on class action suits and federal investigations; worked with the National Audubon Society’s legislative efforts on environmental issues and community development; and participated in national political campaigns. She is involved with several community-oriented organizations in Washington, DC, such as Hoop Dreams, Operation USO Care Package, and the Employment Justice Center. Anne earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Cornell University and Juris Doctorate from The Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.
Phone: (202) 204-3958
COURTNEY MCGRATH, Policy Associate, focuses on appropriations and in particular federal community development programs. Most recently, Courtney was the government affairs coordinator at the American Planning Association in Washington, DC where she handled federal policy related to land use planning and urban revitalization strategies, and helped expand APA’s grassroots advocacy network. Previously, Courtney worked as a deputy policy director on a gubernatorial campaign in New York State, served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, and coordinated major art auction fundraising events for the 2000 Presidential election campaign and the 2002 Senate races. McGrath received her B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University.
Phone: (202) 204-3951
