"Businesses should look at politics in the same way they look at markets, identifying the opportunities and challenges inherent in the process."
Brent Alexander believes effective public policy advocacy is a year-round pursuit. To Mr. Alexander, a lobbyist's role is not just to tackle crises, but to help clients design and implement long-term strategies for achieving both political success and business growth. "The political process should be an integral part of a company's planning," he says.
As a member of Baker Donelson's Public Policy and Health Law groups, Mr. Alexander focuses on government relations, public affairs and litigation support in Mississippi and works with the firm's other offices to coordinate public policy efforts throughout the Southeast and in Washington, D.C. Before joining Baker Donelson, he honed his skills in legislative and regulatory affairs through a decade as senior vice president for advocacy with the Mississippi Hospital Association and as principal of his own public policy and political consulting firms.
Mr. Alexander represents clients as a lobbyist in both state and federal government affairs. For each of the past five years, he has been ranked in the top three of Mississippi's 459 registered lobbyists by the Mississippi Business Journal. He devotes a portion of his practice to strategic business consulting, working with companies to identify legislative or regulatory hurdles to their business objectives and recommending tactics to overcome them. He manages advocacy and grassroots campaigns for companies as well as for public officials, and advises clients on the use of polling, focus groups and opposition research. Much of his work is in health care, on behalf of health care providers and related service industries. He also represents clients with interests in finance, real estate, media, energy, gaming, education, transportation and the environment.
A rapidly growing area of Mr. Alexander's practice is advising venture capital and related investors on public policy issues. He has passed the Series 65 Registered Investment Advisor Exam, an examination required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) for individuals who serve as principals in, or advisors to, hedge funds that invest in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. He has also passed the Series 3 National Commodity Futures Exam, an examination required by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the National Futures Association (NFA) and the SEC for individuals who serve as principals in, or advisors to hedge funds which trade futures and options.
Apart from his work at Baker Donelson, Mr. Alexander is registered as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) with the NFA and manages a private investment fund. He also has a broad range of civic responsibilities. As chairman of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, he helped facilitate the investment of over $400 million to help redevelop the City of Jackson.
The greatest advantage Baker Donelson offers its public policy clients, Mr. Alexander believes, is its ability to use all the tools of the political process in a coordinated manner across a number of states and in Washington. "Our broad understanding of how to manage the political process on a number of levels is of enormous value to our clients," he says.
Results speak volumes. Over the course of his career, Mr. Alexander has been instrumental in helping to pass, amend or defeat hundreds of major pieces of legislation. He has helped develop and implement state and national advocacy campaigns that have generated millions of dollars for his clients. "Businesses should look at politics in the same way they look at markets," he says, "identifying the opportunities and challenges inherent in the process."
- Past Chairman – State Association of Government Relations Officers (SAGRO), American Hospital Association
- Senior Vice President for Advocacy, Mississippi Hospital Association (1991-2001)
- Recipient – Most Improved State Political Action Committee Award, American Hospital Association
- Chairman – Jackson Redevelopment Authority (2005-2008)
- Ranked in top three of Mississippi's 459 registered lobbyists by the Mississippi Business Journal (2005-2009)
- Named to Mississippi's Top 40 Under 40 – Mississippi Business Journal
- Past CEO – The Campaign Media Group
- Past CEO – Advanced Media Strategies
- Co-owner and Publisher of South magazine, a general interest consumer magazine about the people, places and events shaping the popular culture of the southeastern United States (2000 – 2003)
- Board Member – Mississippi Opera
- Board Member – Mississippi Symphony
- Board Member – National Kidney Foundation of Mississippi
- Board Member – Board of Advisors, School of Journalism, University of Mississippi
- Former Board Member – Mississippi Red Cross
- Former Board Member – New Stage Theater, Jackson, MS
- Millsaps College, B.A., 1987
- University of Mississippi, M.A., 1993
- Graduate Work:
- Public Affairs and Political Media, Washington Center for Politics and Journalism – Washington, D.C.
- Comparative Politics, King's College Kensington – London, England
- Series 3 National Commodity Futures Examination
- Series 65 Registered Investment Advisor Law Examination