The Cornerstone Experience
SERVICE AND OWNERSHIP
Cornerstone’s Day of Service & Employee Ownership Month
For Cornerstone’s 2023 Service Initiative in Washington, D.C., 53 of our team members volunteered at Capital Area Food Bank where we filled 1,366 care packages with canned goods and non-perishable items for senior citizens throughout the D.C. metropolitan area. Colleagues from the firm’s state offices also participated in the firm’s initiative by selecting and volunteering at food banks across our states.
In Case You Missed It : Employee Ownership Month Our firm recognized Employee Ownership Month in October. Employee Ownership Month is held every October in celebration of all of the benefits that come with being an employee-owned company. Our firm is grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the undeniable benefits employee ownership provides to our clients, colleagues and our firm as a whole. The establishment of the firm’s ESOP allows us to stay focused on our vision and philosophy, while continuing to create equity and leadership opportunities for our employees and ensuring investment in the long-term success of the business. This translates directly into a heightened focus on client satisfaction, as our team is driven by a collective goal to consistently exceed expectations. This unique model empowers our employees to foster a deep sense of dedication and accountability in delivering exceptional service and solutions to our clients. To learn more about our firm’s ESOP and employee ownership model, view the Special Edition Cornerstone Experience newsletter here.
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BUSINESS UNIT OFFSITES Fostering Team Unity and Firm Vision
2023 Cornerstone State Government Relations Offsite : Portland, Maine In October, our team gathered in Portland, Maine, bringing together colleagues from our 14 state offices for three days of collaborative team-building activities and strategic sessions. The state government relations team offsite provided a valuable opportunity for us to strengthen relationships, exchange ideas and align our strategies for continued success. We appreciate the dedication of our team members whose active participation contributed to the productive discussions and meaningful connections forged over the three days.
2023 Cornerstone Federal Government Relations Offsite : Washington, D.C. In November, Cornerstone’s federal government relations team converged in Washington, D.C. for an impactful and insightful offsite at National’s Park. This gathering marked an opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of our federal government relations business unit through a series of engaging panels and sessions that captured key components and core practices for maintaining client service excellence. Discussions also resonated the importance of nurturing and preserving our distinctive company culture as we continue to grow as a firm. We also had the chance to hear from guest speakers Robby Moser, CEO of Clark Construction Group, and John Veihmeyer, Retired Chairman of KPMG, who shared their profound insights on leadership and fostered dialogues on company culture and operations. This two-day gathering fortified our relationships and dedication to serving our clients with excellence while allowing us to appreciate the uniqueness of Cornerstone.
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CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
Client Victories and Pathways to Success Congratulations to our client Applied Intuition on receiving a production contract to deliver synthetic data to train an aided target recognition (AiTR) algorithm and track adversary systems. By augmenting real-world data with high-fidelity synthetic data, autonomy development teams in the Air Force will quickly expand their corpus of training data, improve model performance in identifying adversary threat systems and accelerate development velocity and the delivery of game-changing target recognition capabilities to the warfighter.
In November, our client GHGSat launched the first orbital sensor able to pinpoint carbon dioxide emissions from individual industrial facilities, such as cement or power plants, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. GHGSat is the precursor to a new generation of space instruments that will build on their extensive experience with methane emissions to provide frequent, accurate and independent high-resolution CO2 data from individual sites.
Our Maryland client Prince George’s County was selected as the new home of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) headquarters. GSA selected Greenbelt, Maryland as the best option for the FBI due to the low cost to taxpayers, and the transportation access for FBI employees and visitors. It also provided the highest potential to advance sustainability and equity. The new headquarters will bring 7,500 jobs to the County, serving as an anchor to attract new companies and transform the local economy for generations. We are grateful to all of our Maryland officials who supported this effort. We are proud to work with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the preeminent international nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children. During the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in September, Jennifer Podkul, KIND’s vice president for policy and advocacy, testified and shared effective solutions to protect children from trafficking and exploitation. Global anti-trafficking efforts, child protection and a bipartisan child-centric framework for protecting the rights of children were among some of the issues discussed in the statement. Read the full statement here.
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EVENTS & ENGAGEMENTS Panels, Conferences and More
In September, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference, Cornerstone hosted a reception honoring Black staffers on Capitol Hill and in the Administration. The event saw nearly 600 attendees throughout the evening, mainly from Capitol Hill and the Administration, as well as representatives from top corporations, industry leaders, major nonprofits and academia. Many of our clients attended the event alongside a contingent of Cornerstone colleagues from D.C. and throughout our state offices. We are grateful to our sponsors for their support that ensured a successful evening and to our colleagues across the firm who diligently helped plan and participated in the event.
At the end of November, the firm hosted a reception in recognition of the 47th National Black Caucus of State Legislators Annual Legislative Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the second year the firm has hosted a reception for the conference. The NBCSL conference is an annual event where policymakers, corporate executives, advocates and community leaders come together to discuss African-American policy issues. With more than 700 members representing more than 60 million Americans, NBCSL serves as a national network, advocate and catalyst for public policy innovation, information exchange and joint action on critical issues affecting African Americans and other marginalized communities.
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CORNERSTONE ACCOLADES Celebrating Colleague Excellence
Charles Carithers, a principal in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, joined Partnership for a Secure America’s Board of Directors. As a distinguished national security expert, Charles brings a background rich in national security expertise and a wealth of insight to the organization’s mission of promoting bipartisan solutions to critical security matters. Dao Nguyen, a principal in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, was recognized by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics as a 2023 NILE Top Lobbyist for her leadership, expertise and commitment to achieving wins on behalf of our clients.
Jordan Gleason, a principal in the firm’s Baton Rouge office, was recognized on Baton Rouge Business Report’s Forty Under 40 list for his dedication to shaping policies with the goal of building a better Baton Rouge community. The list honors the Capital Region’s brightest young leaders, innovators and business professionals.
Sally Kilpatrick, a principal in the firm’s Atlanta office, was ranked as the #1 Registered Georgia Lobbyist by JAMES Magazine, with four of our other Georgia colleagues ranking among the Top 50. We are immensely proud of our Georgia team for their unwavering excellence and relentless dedication to serving our clients.
Justin Jordan, a principal in the firm’s Houston office, was appointed to the Board of Directors at Large for the National Association of Black County Officials (NOBCO). NOBCO is a nonprofit that was founded to support Black county officials and to provide resources to empower and transform populations into more sustainable communities. Congratulations to Justin on this wonderful achievement.
Mike Smith, Chris Hodgson, Dao Nguyen, and Jim Richards named among The Hill’s Top Lobbyists 2023 list. This list honors the corporate lobbyists, association leaders and grassroots activists who leveraged their expertise and connections to make a difference in the nation’s capital this year. Congratulations to these four exceptional colleagues on their recognition. We are grateful for their continued work on behalf of our clients and for their contributions to the firm.
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COLLEAGUE CHRONICLES Colleague Milestones and Joyful Moments
Congratulations to our colleague Brent Greenfield on his recent engagement! We wish Brent and his fiancé Tessa all the best during this exciting new chapter.
Congratulations to our colleague TJ Tatum and his wife Kathleen, who welcomed their baby boy earlier this month. Rory George Tatum was born on Thursday, November 30th at 1:32am.
Congratulations to Katelyn Anderson in our Iowa office on celebrating nuptials in September. We are thrilled for Katelyn and her husband Jake and wish them the best.
Cornerstone celebrated the ten-year anniversary of one of our colleagues, Erik Fatemi in November. We are extremely grateful for Erik’s continued dedication and contributions to Cornerstone over the last decade. Cornerstone CEO Geoff Gonella and his wife Lulu Gonella received the Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!) 2023 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Award for their leadership and dedication to service in the Washington Community. Their recognition is a testament to their service-oriented leadership and we are truly inspired by their commitment to uplifting others and making a tangible difference in the lives of those they serve.
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WE'RE GROWING!
Welcoming Cornerstone's Newest Team Members
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
RICK ZAMPELLI PRINCIPAL (DC)
TYLER DICKERSON ANDREW SCHAEFFLER ASSOCIATE (DC) ASSOCIATE (DC)
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
MARK CALVIN ASSOCIATE (TX)
HYMA MOORE PRINCIPAL (DC)
STATE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
SARAH BOWLING VICE PRESIDENT (KY)
PATRICK HOGAN PRINCIPAL (MD)
COREY ELDER TIFFANY HARVEY VICE PRESIDENT (KY) PRINCIPAL (MD)
CHARLENE PUCHALLA SENIOR ASSOCIATE (GA)
MIKE VLACICH PRINCIPAL (NH)
ISABEL WALLER KELLY WRIGHT ASSOCIATE (IA) VICE PRESIDENT (MS)
OPERATIONS
LEAH HATHAWAY TAYLOR LEVINS MAGGIE EIDT HUMAN RESOURCES COORDINATOR (DC) HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER (DC) COMPLIANCE COORDINATOR (DC)
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