20+ years

Chairman of the Board of Overseers, Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Member of Environment and Energy Team, Transition 2018/NJ Governor-elect Phil Murphy's Gubernatorial Transition

Rich, a Founding Partner of GTB, Partners LLC, has enjoyed a distinguished career in politics and international affairs spanning four decades while working at the highest levels of the Federal government and the State of New Jersey. At GTB, Rich directs our international affairs practice as well as executive branch efforts of the firm. In addition, Rich conducts comprehensive development efforts on behalf of GTB's clients seeking to do business with all levels of government in New Jersey.

In 2011, Rich and Michael Torpey founded Advanced Energy New Jersey, a clean energy/energy efficiency not-for- profit trade association comprised of 150 companies engaged in this space.

Prior to founding GTB, Rich was the managing partner in Winning Strategies/Global.

He served as Senior Advisor for Trade Development to the late-Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. There he led the US Government's commercial diplomacy efforts in the Middle East and Africa. Before joining the Commerce Department, Rich served as Special Counsel to the President in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and Assistant Counsel to the Presidential Transition. He previously was Director of External Affairs for New Jersey Governor Jim Florio. In 1992, Rich was appointed to serve as the New Jersey State Director for the successful Bill Clinton and Al Gore presidential election campaign. For the first time since 1964, the Democratic Presidential candidate carried the state. His political experience also includes serving on the staffs of U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Bill Bradley and as an advisor to Senator Bob Torricelli. Early in his career, Rich was Chief of Staff to New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak. Rich has also served a term as Council
President in his home town of Spring Lake Heights.

Rich earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative Law at Georgetown University Law Center, received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from Fordham University. At Fordham, he pitched for the Fordham Rams baseball team and was invited to join Omicron Delta Epsilon, the honor society in economics. Rich serves on the Board of Overseers to Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy, where he is currently the Chairman, and their President's Advisory Group. Rich and his wife Robin have two children, Brigid and John.

0-5 years

Annabelle Sebesta joined the Austin office as a Senior Associate in October 2022. In her role, she assists with administrative and support duties, scheduling meetings and organizing annual events and legislative receptions. Additionally, during the legislative sessions, she provides extensive support to the team by following legislation and keeping the team up to date with information.

Prior to Cornerstone, Annabelle served as Administrative Coordinator at the Office of the Texas Speaker. In this role, she assisted senior staff with correspondence, resource navigation, special property and supply requests. In the same office, Annabelle was a Correspondence Assistant, where she drafted correspondence by researching legislation and maintained data entry for incoming and outgoing communication. She also assisted the director of administration with onboarding the 87th regular legislative session intern class and new staff members of the office, as well as the production of special events.

Annabelle received her bachelor's degree in advertising from the University of Texas Austin.

Ross Giesinger brings over a decade of legislative experience at the Texas Capitol to the Cornerstone team, having served for six legislative sessions in both the Texas House and Senate.

Most recently, Ross worked as a policy advisor to Dade Phelan, Speaker of the Texas House, of Representatives, during the 87th Regular Session, where he assisted with the passage of over 80 pieces of legislation. Additionally, Ross drafted and managed several bills filed in response to Winter Storm Uri, including SB 3, one of the most comprehensive energy reforms in Texas in the last 20 years.

Prior to his time in the House, Ross spent several years working as general counsel and legislative director for Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-TX) and as the director of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. While at the Senate, Ross assisted with the passage of nearly 300 bills and worked to obtain funds for a variety of initiatives, including legislation that secured permanent funding for Texas State Parks.

Ross began his career at the legislature in 2010 as a drafting attorney for the Texas Legislative Council. During his time with the state, he has drafted thousands of pieces of legislation, allowing him to develop expertise in a wide variety of subject areas, including energy, healthcare, water, land use and development, transportation, insurance, labor, agriculture, wildlife, taxation, and state budgeting.

Ross is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law. He is a member of the Austin Young Lawyers Association and was recently elected to serve on the Council of the Texas State Bar's Legislative and Campaign Law Section. Ross also serves as a Steward of the Wild for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and has been active in the Austin Ballet Guild, the Trail Foundation, and CCA. He and his wife Courtney live in Austin with their young son Henry.

11-15 years

Serving as president of Southern Strategy Group (Louisiana), Rodney Braxton brings the highest levels of public service to the firm. He is experienced in policy development, governmental affairs, legislative relations, budgetary issues, capital improvement projects and enjoys a reputation for "persuasive negotiation skills." As assistant chief of staff to former Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Rodney supervised transportation, insurance, and labor issues. He also served as associate commissioner of governmental relations for the Louisiana Board of Regents, the state's top higher education board.

Rodney was undersecretary of the Louisiana Department of Labor, the first executive director of the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights and, in 1994, named one of thirty Leaders of the Future by Ebony magazine. An active member of many community and civic organizations, he has served on the boards of Young Leaders Academy, Of Moving Colors Productions and Serve! Baton Rouge.

A native of Louisiana and practicing attorney since 1992, Rodney holds a B.S. in finance from the University of New Orleans and his J.D. from Tulane University Law School where he received a Merit Scholarship and was a quarterfinalist in the 1992 Frederick Douglas Moot Court Competition.

20+ years

15-20 years

20+ years

Kevin E. Cunningham is a partner with Southern Strategy Group-Louisiana one of the preeminent Governmental Relations firms operating in the state.

He joined the firm 2009 and represents a varied client base before the legislature, federal and state agencies, local government etc. Having developed an expertise in property and casualty insurance law, Kevin was recently selected by the State Commissioner of Insurance to serve on the High Auto Insurance Rates Task Force, which is developing legislative and regulatory solutions to combat this growing problem. In addition, he serves as an active member of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry's Civil Justice Reform Advisory Council, to which he is also a past Chairman.

Prior to joining SSG, Kevin was a partner with Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister, where he served on the firm's Executive Management Committee. From 1996 to 2001 he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Mike Foster, where he oversaw the $14 million dollar Urban and Rural Grant Program. In addition to other duties, he also chaired both the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development (TIMED) Task Force, which resulted in much needed infrastructure development and the Louisiana Task Force for the Reduction of Automobile Insurance Rates, which brought about significant insurance rate and civil justice reforms.

An avid tennis player, Kevin is the past President of the Greater Baton Rouge Community Tennis Association, where he oversaw the return of a challenger series tennis tournament to the City and a resumption of a grade school -- Introduction to Tennis -- program. During his tenure he also increased participation in the world-class Cajun Classic Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, which attracts top professional and amateur wheelchair players from throughout the world. Recently he was asked to serve on the Board of Directors for Metro YMCA. Other past civic involvement includes the Council for Judicial Excellence and a member of Kiwanis International.

The son of retired army officer and an educator who also served as an administrator with the State Department of Education, Kevin was born in Wurzburg Germany and graduated high school in Seoul Korea. He received his Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center in 1985, where he was a member of the Southern University Moot Court Board (1984-1985) and Law Review candidate. While at Southern he was honored with the American Jurisprudence 2nd Award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Corporations. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Old Dominion University in Norfolk VA, in 1982. Kevin is married to Helena R. Cunningham, also an attorney, CPA and affordable housing developer. They have two children, Kevin Jr., an attorney working in Baton Rouge and Sydne, a second-year law student at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans

6-10 years

Recently was a part of a successful lobbying effort in 2019 to pass into law a major energy transition legislation for renewable energy development across the state that's become one of the top national models, also helped pass updated oil and gas industry laws, successfully passed Scope of Practice legislation in 2017 for a healthcare client (which is no easy task in NM), assisted a racing-industry client in strengthening regulations regarding illegal drug use and tax protections.

I have good professional relationships with several house and senate committees, committee chairs and legislative leadership, Governor's office, Environment Department and Energy and Natural Resources Agencies, NM Racing Commission

I was born and reared in Albuquerque, New Mexico and received my college education at the University of New Mexico. My father was a State Representative in the 70's and was a lobbyist for 37 years until his retirement in 2016, so New Mexico politics has been a big part of my family for a long time. My father started bringing me and my brother to the capitol when we were toddlers where I got to watch him in action and learn how things work at the legislature; and more importantly, how to talk and connect with people. Through many years of following my dad around the capitol and traveling with him around the state for work, I was able to receive a comprehensive, but also intimate education in politics, legislative affairs and the unique inner-workings of the political environment of New Mexico. This experience prepared me to be able to work effectively in the family business for the last few years of my dads career and
successfully carry on the business when he retired in 2016. I've also been successful in obtaining my own clients and working on a variety of important issues in the state ranging from healthcare to energy policy. I'm proud to have a solid reputation as an effective and trustworthy lobbyist and I enjoy advocating for my clients and helping them reach their legislative and regulatory goals.

Martin Hubert brings a wealth of state government experience to the clients of Cornerstone Government Affairs. From his early career as chief counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee to his gubernatorial appointment as a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to his eight years as the deputy comptroller of Texas, Hubert has managed thousands of employees and millions of taxpayer dollars under both Democrat and Republican administrations.

Martin was the 2008 recipient of TSABAA's Administrator of the Year Award. Presented annually, this prestigious award was established to formally recognize state employees who have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills and who have made significant contributions to state agency business administration.

As the final general counsel to legendary Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, Martin learned the mastery of government relations from some of the most influential leaders in Texas history. His knowledge of agriculture stems from generations of the Hubert family's cow/calf and farming operations in South Texas and serving as the Texas Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture for eight years. Martin offers a unique combination of legal, natural resources, tax policy and state government procedural expertise.

Hubert is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and St. Mary's School of Law. He was Brigade Executive Officer in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, where he was a member of the Ross Volunteers Honor Guard and the Singing Cadets. He successfully completed Army Ranger School and served in the U.S. Army Reserves. He is a marathon runner and coaches his son's little league teams.

Hubert is a second tenor and helps raise money for Legal Aid through the Travis County Bar Association's "Bar and Grill" fundraisers. He and his wife Celeste live in a historic home in Austin, where they are involved with the Austin Symphony, St. Theresa's Catholic Church and School, and the happily busy lives of their children Belle and Patrick.

11-15 years

15-20 years

0-5 years

"Dylan Reel Named a Top 25 Lobbyist by North State Journal," July 29, 2024

Professional & Community Activities: Johnston County Bar Association, Member; Wake County Bar Association, Member; Saint Thomas Moore Society, Member; Federalist Society, Member; East Triangle YMCA, Board Member; American Leadership Academy Johnston, Board Member

Education: Campbell University School of Law, J.D. (2020), Loyola University Chicago, B.S. Political Science, cum laude with departmental honors (2017)

Admissions: North Carolina (2020)

Speaker Destin Hall, Rep. Brenden Jones, House Leadership, House Appropriations Chairs, House Transportation Chairs, House Education K-12 Chairs, Senate Education/Higher Education Chairs

Dylan Reel assists his clients with lobbying and advocacy before the North Carolina General Assembly and state agencies with a focus on health care, financial services, energy, local governments, transportation, and education. In 2023, he was the youngest ranked as a "Top Lobbyist" in the state of North Carolina by the North State Journal. Prior to joining the firm, Dylan was Vice President of Government Affairs in the Raleigh, North Carolina office of a national, full-service public affairs firm. There, he represented clients before the North Carolina General Assembly and Executive Branch and provided clients with detailed analysis of legislation, appropriation, and political contributions. Before he became a lobbyist, Dylan was General Counsel to the Rules Chairman Destin Hall (R-NC) and the Election and Redistricting Chairman in the North Carolina House of Representatives. In this role, he oversaw the North Carolina House caucus legislative agenda, floor calendar, and bill movement. As counsel for redistricting, Dylan provided legal advice and strategy to the Speaker of the House Tim Moore (R-NC) throughout the redistricting processes and subsequent litigation. Dylan was involved in three separate redraws of the legislative and Congressional maps in his tenure in the state House. Dylan also served as a research assistant and legislative staff assistant in the North Carolina House of Representatives where he provided legislative counsel to the House Rules Chairman David Lewis. While attending law school, Dylan served as a legal extern for Speaker of the House Tim Moore (R-NC) in the North Carolina House of Representatives. Also, he was a campaign intern for the Republican National Committee in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dylan was recognized as a "Top 25 Lobbyist" in 2024 by the North State Journal.