H. BENSON DENDY III serves as President of The Vectre Corporation and a member of its Board of Directors. As a senior staff member for two Virginia Governors, he has held positions as diverse as Secretary of the Commonwealth, Secretary to the Governor's Cabinet, and Special Assistant to the Governor. He began his career in state government in 1978, as a legislative assistant to the Lieutenant Governor. Over the course of seven legislative sessions, he advocated for two Governors' agendas in the General Assembly. He served on transition committees for Virginia Governors Mark Warner and Terry McAuliffe.

In 2016, Dendy was appointed to the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University, where he currently serves as Vice Rector. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Containerization & Intermodal Institute. In 2002, he was appointed by Governor Mark Warner to the Council on the Southern Community of the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Dendy has been appointed and reappointed to the Board of Trustees of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, a state agency, by six Virginia Governors of both parties. He served as Chairman for nine years and is currently Chairman Emeritus. In 2003, he was appointed by the United States Secretary of the Interior to the Federal Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission and served as the Federal Commission's Vice Chairman. From 2013 – 2020, Dendy served on the Executive Committee of the American Evolution 2019 Commemoration which highlighted the 400th anniversary of key historical events that occurred in Virginia in 1619 that continue to influence our world today. These events were the anniversary of the first representative assembly in the New World, the arrival of the first recorded African slaves to English North America, the arrival of the first English women in significant numbers and the first official English Thanksgiving.

He served on the Board of Trustees of the Valentine Richmond History Center for 14 years and is a former director of the Virginia YMCA and the Maymont Foundation. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, a core grantee of the United States Department of State that conducts international exchange programs for young governmental leaders. He is a member of the Honorary Council to the St. George's Foundation in Bermuda. Dendy also has extensive experience in helping international corporations develop business in this country.

Dendy graduated from the University of Richmond, magna cum laude, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. A member of Second Presbyterian Church, Dendy serves as an elder. He and his late wife, Stacey, had three children. The family enjoys skiing at Wintergreen and spending time in the summer at Virginia Beach.

He has served as Chairman of The Advocacy Group, the premier municipal, state, federal and international government and public affairs organization in the world and currently serves on its board of directors. Dendy was one of the first 24 government relations professionals nationwide to complete the State Government Affairs Council Professional Certification Program in 2012 and currently has completed the Council's silver level program for advanced certification.

15-20 years

National Co-Chair of Obama Presidential Campaign, 2008
Best Lawyers in America, 2008 - 2020
Lawyer of the Year, Government Relations Practice, Columbia, SC, Best Lawyers, 2020

11-15 years

Mr. Ambrosino joined 1868 Public Affairs after serving as Governor Christine Todd Whitman's Senior Deputy Director of Communications, spearheading theme and message development in the Governor's Office. His work helped advance the Whitman administration's agenda in a variety of areas, including health care, education, senior and veterans issues, and the environment and highlighted Whitman's accomplishments by meshing strategic communications efforts like direct mail, electronic advertising and earned media with important administration policy initiatives.
Over the past two decades, Mr. Ambrosino has served in various campaigns at the national, state and county level in a wide variety of roles. In 2010 he was a Co-Chairman of Congressman Jon Runyan's successful congressional race and in 2009 he served as Camden County Campaign Coordinator in Governor Chris Christie's successful campaign. In 2008, Mr. Ambrosino was named New Jersey's Delegation Aide to the Republican National Convention by the McCain for President campaign and served as the campaign's Camden County Field Coordinator.

In 2004, Mr. Ambrosino served as Southern New Jersey Campaign Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, developing and implementing the campaign's grassroots strategy in an eight-county region. Ultimately, President Bush improved his performance in Ambrosino's region over the 2000 election by more than 14 percentage points, the largest such regional improvement in the nation.

From late 1997 to early 1999, Mr. Ambrosino served as Director of Business & External Affairs for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Charged with developing a pro-active business and governmental outreach program, he gained invaluable knowledge of the department's regulatory system and its effect on New Jersey's economy.

In 1997 Mr. Ambrosino served as Deputy Campaign Manager on Governor Whitman's successful re-election campaign, managing the campaign's daily operations. For two years prior, he served as Political Director at the New Jersey Republican State Committee and Executive Director of the New Jersey Victory 96 program.

Mr. Ambrosino also serves as a Commissioner of Elections in Camden County, a post to which he was first appointed by former Governor Jon Corzine in 2006. He has been re-appointed by Governor Chris Christie.

A graduate of Temple University with a degree in Journalism, Mr. Ambrosino and his wife Mindy reside in Cherry Hill with their sons, Cory and Luke.

20+ years

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Government Relations, 2011-2020
Member, Virginia Code Commission
Commissioner (Virginia), Uniform Law Commission

In addition to being an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP, Chris is an executive vice president in McGuireWoods Consulting. His government affairs practice consists of representing clients before the Virginia legislature, executive branch and state and local agencies.
Chris' legal practice involves advising companies on political law compliance activities, including lobbying, gift restrictions involving public officials, campaign finance, and government ethics laws. He also holds the CIPP/US credential as a Certified Information Privacy Professional from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

With more than 25 years of experience in Virginia government and politics, Chris has developed a deep knowledge of Virginia state and local government and the legislative and regulatory process. Drawing on his experience as a lobbyist and as the former chief counsel to a Virginia attorney general, Chris assists clients in developing and implementing legislative and regulatory strategies to meet their business and public policy objectives.

Chris brings a unique perspective to his political law practice because of his government relations experience. Understanding the political process and the practice of government relations is essential to advising a client on how to comply with the myriad of federal, state and local rules governing lobbying, ethics, conflicts of interest, ethics in public procurement and campaign finance, while still achieving the client's business and public policy objectives.

20+ years

Alton Ashy established Advanced Strategies nearly two decades ago. As the firm's president, Alton brings a wealth of knowledge, a strong work ethic and sharp business insight to his projects. He began his professional career as a legislative staffer working for both the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives and quickly transitioned into governmental relations representing clients including Louisiana State University. Alton's ability to quickly assess an issue and develop a winning legislative strategy has helped Advanced Strategies achieve great success for its clients over the years.

6-10 years

Brian serves as a senior vice president for McGuireWoods Consulting's state government affairs group in Columbia, South Carolina. Brian represents clients before the state legislature, local governments and executive branch agencies.

Representing a diverse group of clients on a range of issues including energy, transportation, education, alcohol, retail and non-profit advocacy, Brian has helped pass legislation related to emerging transportation, alcoholic beverage control laws and the energy industry. He has extensive experience in developing and implementing comprehensive government, grassroots and public affairs strategies for his clients.

Prior to joining McGuireWoods Consulting, Brian worked on a number of political and grassroots campaigns, and worked for Congressman Joe Wilson in his district office. Upon graduation from The Citadel, Brian took a commission in the Army as a Military Intelligence Officer. In 2010, he was deployed to Afghanistan with the 1-178th Field Artillery Battalion and served as the unit's Tactical Intelligence Officer. He is currently a Captain in the South Carolina Army National Guard and serves as the legislative liaison.

Brian lives in Columbia with his wife, where they are raising their two daughters.

0-5 years

Boys and Girls Club of Louisiana - Board Member

Gretna Economic Development Association - Past President

Gretna Heritage Festival - Past Board Member

Westbank Coastal Conservation Association - Board Member

Westbank Ducks Unlimited Chapter - Board Member

Bachelors Club of New Orleans - Member

Senator Danny Martiny Campaign - Campaign Management Team

Elton Lagasse for Parish President - Campaign Manager

Mark Morgan for School Board - Campaign Manager

Sheriff Joseph Lopinto - Westbank Campaign ManagerLouisiana

Video Gaming Association - Associate Member

Senator David Heitmeier - Former Intern

Senate President John Alario - Former Aide

Jefferson Parish Council - Former Intern

Loyola University Institute of Politics - Graduate

Association of Louisiana Lobbyists - Member

Ryan Templet is a lobbyist with Advanced Strategies inc., a government relations firm founded by veteran lobbyist Alton Ashy in 1992. Advanced Strategies has offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and for nearly thirty years has represented dozens of clients on high profile issues at the local, state and executive level with impeccable results. Advances Strategies has provided winning strategies to clients in a broad range of industries including gaming, health care, utilities, technology and more.

Ryan first acquired his taste for politics at a young age volunteering for local elections in Gretna, LA where he grew up. In high school, Ryan began working at the Louisiana State Capitol as an intern, where he made in roads with a number of Legislators and shortly thereafter began interning in the Louisiana Senate. In College, Ryan worked as the Legislative Aide for Senate President John Alario, where he worked for five years. Under President Alario, the longest serving member of the Louisiana Legislature, Ryan learned the details of the Legislative process, the Senate and House rules, the art of compromise, the importance of building coalitions, and the value in working with individuals of competing interests and different views to successfully pass a Legislative agenda.

Ryan has worked extensively in a number of Legislative, local, and Parish-wide elections giving him an in depth knowledge of how to identify winning candidates, and a knowledge of grassroots advocacy which he utilized to services clients as a lobbyist. Having extensive knowledge of the Legislature after working for both the Louisiana House and Senate, Ryan joined Alton Ashy at Advanced Strategies inc., where he has helped Alton to grow his client base and further the success that ASI has seen in developing and implementing effective legislative government relations strategies. Presently, Ryan works with Alton to represent a broad range of clients such as the Louisiana Video Poker industry, the Louisiana Video Gaming Association (LVGA), Jacobs Entertainment, the Interventional Pain Therapists Association of Louisiana, Our Lady of the Lake Hospital System, Waste Management (WM), Entergy Louisiana, Baron and Bud Law Firm, Copart inc, DRC, Callan Marine, SAS Institute, Drizly, HNTB Corporation, Louisiana Coalition for Access to Autism Services, Louisiana Association of Applied Behavior Analysts, AETNA inc, the National Football League Players Association, and more.

Alton Ashy is the President of Advanced Strategies. As the firm's president, Alton brings a wealth of knowledge, a strong work ethic and sharp business insight to his projects. Ryan and Alton specialize in helping their clients manage high profile State Legislative and Executive level issues. Ryan and Alton are an extremely effective team for their clients. Priorities for Ryan and Alton in assisting all clients include constant communication, working with Legislators on both sides of the aisle, educating Legislators on both sides of an issue, working with other lobbyists on both sides of an issue, and finding the best solution to an issue. Ryan and Alton provide each client with the respect that they deserve and treat every client as a part of their own family. Their experience in a broad range of industries and willingness to make themselves available as needed to clients make them a perfect match for anyone seeking representation in Louisiana.

15-20 years