15-20 years

Developed and facilitated a coalition of aviation industry leaders with a local university to get the State of Kansas to support the first direct appropriate to specifically support the research and innovation needs of those companies. In addition to major initiatives like this example, successful in working with both Republicans and Democrats to further the goals of clients.

Eric has achieved success by developing key contacts and maintaining relationships and maintaining relationships with policymakers in a bipartisan way and across the legislative and executive branches of state government. This philosophy continues to carry the most credibility and achieve results in government affairs.

Eric L. Sexton, PhD, serves as a governmental affairs consultant with Foulston Siefkin's Governmental Affairs & Public Policy practice group. The group provides legislative monitoring and lobbying services for Foulston's clients as well as publishing the weekly Kansas Legislative Insights newsletter during the session. Sexton is a contributing author for Kansas Legislative Insights and spends most of his time in Topeka during the legislative session, building on his strong relationships at the local, state, and federal level.

Sexton is an experienced government affairs leader who spent 18 years on Wichita State University's government relations team, mostly as executive director of government relations. During his tenure in that role, WSU ranked 15th in the country for earning directed federal appropriations for important programs. Sexton then served as WSU's director of athletics, overseeing the rise of the men's basketball program to its highest levels of national prominence to date while also operating the athletics program profitably. Sexton's thorough understanding of legislative processes, funding, and the people involved combine to make him an effective and well-informed advocate for clients whose businesses or industries are affected by local, state, or federal regulations, administrative agencies, or elected officials.

Sexton earned his doctorate in political science from the University of Kansas after his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Wichita State University.

Active in his community, Sexton serves on the Wesley Medical Center Board of Trustees, the Derby Community Foundation, and was a founding member of Real Men, Real Heroes. In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Sexton to the President Commission for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Sexton is an avid golfer who competes in amateur events at the regional and national level. He also enjoys hunting quail and pheasant as well as Kansas staycations with his wife, Kathy Sexton.

ERIN TAYLOR has more than twenty years of experience working in the public policy arena at the federal, state and local level.

Prior to forming Taylor Strategies & Consulting in 2014, Taylor served as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association for eight years. During that time, she successfully advocated for legislation and programs that enhanced businesses throughout the state, based on the view that all businesses should be fairly taxed. She garnered the respect of state and local elected officials with her analytic and unbiased reporting of tax policy.

She was instrumental in educating policy makers on the implications of tax policy and experienced many successes in the legislative area, including increasing Wyoming's fuel tax, passing a sales and use tax vendor allowance, implementing special district transparency, formulating property tax relief programs, among others.

After the association, Taylor served as statewide campaign manager for US Senator Mike Enzi for the 2014 primary election where she spearheaded a comprehensive county-by-county issue based campaign, and oversaw all aspects of the day-to-day operations, which yielded the Senator his highest win percentage in that office.

Aside from tax policy, building coalitions and managing communications, Taylor also carries years of experience with regulatory issues, both at the national and state level. She served as Wyoming Government Affairs Representative with PacifiCorp (now Rocky Mountain Power), and in Washington DC forming electric transmission pricing policy with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission through the Edison Electric Institute and the Electric Power Supply Association, and finally, managing regulatory affairs for Montana-Dakota Utilities, Co, in Bismarck, ND.

Taylor earned an undergraduate in economics and also her master of science in regulatory and environmental economics from the University of Wyoming. She is also active in her community through Cheyenne Rotary and a number of local service organizations.