Alison Feighan
President
President
|
Alison launched the Feighan Team in 2015 because she wanted to create a government relations and advocacy firm committed to amplifying the voice of community development organizations and social enterprises in Washington, DC. Alison has worked in the field of community development and housing since 1984 and has over 25 years of experience as a lobbyist in Washington. In that time, she has helped numerous clients succeed as the political landscape in Washington changed. Through it all, she has seen first-hand that there is no substitute for engaging and empowering clients to be powerful advocates. She demystifies the political and legislative process and provides clients with the tools and strategic counsel they need to advance their causes, building bi-partisan support and seeking common ground. |
Recognized as a creative and tenacious advocate, Alison has experience on a range of issues including small business finance and microenterprise development, rural economic development, community development finance and venture capital, and tax credit financing. She was instrumental in crafting and enacting several critical pieces of legislation including the New Markets Tax Credit, the New Markets Venture Capital Program, the SBA Microloan Program, the SBA’s Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME), and the Community Advantage (CA) loan guarantee. In addition, she has extensive experience helping clients secure and increase funding for their work in traditionally underserved urban and rural communities. Alison works with a wide range of federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Treasury and the Small Business Administration.
Built on a solid foundation of service, organizing and advocacy, Alison launched a unique lobbying firm that combines the power of what they know and who they know to advance the interests of their ‘game changer’ clients.
Before coming to Washington, Alison lived in Boston where she worked on community reinvestment and Fair Housing issues and helped launch an affordable housing program for a community action agency in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Alison is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.
Built on a solid foundation of service, organizing and advocacy, Alison launched a unique lobbying firm that combines the power of what they know and who they know to advance the interests of their ‘game changer’ clients.
Before coming to Washington, Alison lived in Boston where she worked on community reinvestment and Fair Housing issues and helped launch an affordable housing program for a community action agency in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Alison is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.
Mary J. Childs-Mayer
Director of Policy and Advocacy
Director of Policy and Advocacy
Mary joined The Feighan Team as the Director of Policy and Advocacy in February 2022. She brings more than two decades of experience related to economic and community development advocacy with a focus on the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) industry. Childs-Mayer will provide mission-driven community development organizations with the strategic advice, insights, and tools needed to implement successful advocacy campaigns and legislative strategy to clients in a variety of industries.
Mary most recently worked as a private consultant working with a national CDFI to carry out all aspects of the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and the New York Forward working capital program. She held the positions of Government Relations Director and Small Business Development Manager for the National Development Council (NDC) headquartered in New York City. She brought her expertise to classrooms across the country while teaching NDC’s core finance courses to practitioners studying to earn their Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification. At the beginning of her 23-year career, Ms. Childs-Mayer was the first Portfolio Manager for NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF), then, the nation’s only non-profit national SBA 7(a) lender.
Mary most recently worked as a private consultant working with a national CDFI to carry out all aspects of the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and the New York Forward working capital program. She held the positions of Government Relations Director and Small Business Development Manager for the National Development Council (NDC) headquartered in New York City. She brought her expertise to classrooms across the country while teaching NDC’s core finance courses to practitioners studying to earn their Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification. At the beginning of her 23-year career, Ms. Childs-Mayer was the first Portfolio Manager for NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF), then, the nation’s only non-profit national SBA 7(a) lender.
Amyra Hasan
Policy Coordinator
Policy Coordinator
|
Amyra brings her passion for advancing equitable policy solutions and her creative writing skills to the Feighan Team, where she provides critical support to all of the Team’s clients.
Amyra previously interned in the DC office of Congressman Chris Van Hollen while he represented Maryland’s 8th District. She also gained invaluable experience conducting survey interviews and managing data as a Research Assistant for the University of Maryland’s Prevention and Early Adversity Research Lab. In addition, Amyra served as a Lead Explainer at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and as an Education Intern at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Amyra earned her bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she advocated for open-source materials as a MaryPIRG canvasser. Born to first-generation immigrant parents, Amyra intimately understands the transformational power of education in a child’s life and is an impassioned advocate for early childhood education. |
Hannah Toriz Perez
Operations and Client Engagement Associate
Operations and Client Engagement Associate
|
Hannah is the Feighan Team’s Operations and Client Engagement Associate. As a first-generation Mexican American raised by immigrants, Hannah understands how important effective, mission-driven advocacy is for the empowerment and social progress of underserved communities. For the past four years, Hannah has worked for several nonprofit organizations with missions such as access to affordable housing and immigration reform.
In 2017, Hannah relocated from her hometown of Los Angeles, California to Providence, Rhode Island to serve as an AmeriCorps member at the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation (CDC). As the CDC’s Resident Services Coordinator, Hannah provided resource referrals, eviction prevention services, and case management. She also organized educational workshops for tenants that covered topics such as understanding credit, avoiding predatory services, money management, and fair housing laws. Hannah went on to work for the Immigrant Coalition of Rhode Island, where she collaborated with over 40 local community partners and members to implement strategies for community engagement and provide immigrant rights workshops. During her time with the Immigrant Coalition, Hannah organized the “Driver Licenses for All” campaign, which sought to pass legislation granting all residents of Rhode Island the ability to obtain a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status. |
|
Photography by Sam Levitan.