Advocates

What Advocates does

Advocates (operating as AdvocatesIncDC) is a privately held, boutique government relations and political consulting firm founded by Meggan Abboud, a former Boeing corporate executive with more than 35 years of government affairs experience. The firm provides policy solutions, third-party advocacy, and targeted communications services to corporations, trade associations, and policy organizations across U.S. federal, state, and local levels. Its named client roster spans Fortune 500 enterprises — including Boeing, Chevron, Shell, MasterCard, Whirlpool, and Lufthansa — alongside sectoral trade associations such as the American Petroleum Institute, the American Chemistry Council, and the Business Roundtable.

The firm delivers its services through three interconnected core offerings: Business Policy Solutions (regulatory compliance and policy implementation support), Third Party Advocacy (grassroots and grasstops campaign execution leveraging a network described as having deep roots across America), and Targeted Communications (strategic messaging through mainstream and social media channels timed to decision-maker audiences). Service delivery is principal-led and relationship-driven rather than technology-enabled; the firm explicitly identifies itself as a professional services practice rather than a technology company. The senior bench consists of three principals — Meggan Abboud, Brian Lunde (45+ years, 100+ campaigns) and Jeff Abboud (40+ years policy/lobbying) — whose collective experience is the firm's primary asset.

The go-to-market is sales-led and direct: principals engage enterprise clients through personal relationships and reputation rather than through intermediary channels or digital marketing. Revenue is generated through retainer arrangements and project-based consulting engagements, with pricing quoted bespoke to client needs. The firm is privately held, founder-owned, with 1–10 employees and no disclosed funding, acquisitions, partnerships, or institutional investors. No app, API, or digital product exists; the company website copyright is dated 2021 and contains no social media or careers channels, indicating a stable, low-investment operational posture.

Name

Advocates

Legal name

AdvocatesIncDC

Website

https://advocatesinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Advocates is a privately held government relations and political consulting firm providing policy solutions, third-party advocacy, and targeted communications to enterprises and trade associations across U.S. federal, state, and local levels, led by three senior principals with 35–45+ years of experience each.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Relations Consulting

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (541820), Political Organizations (813940)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Labor, Worker Rights & Employment Policy Advocacy (BPAGAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Government Accountability, Ethics & Anti-Corruption Advocacy (BPAGAFAN)

Keywords

• Government relations consulting
• Legislative advocacy services
• Regulatory compliance consulting
• Public affairs campaigns
• Political consulting services

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Relations Consulting Services: Professional services revenue generated through consulting engagements with corporate clients seeking legislative, regulatory, and policy solutions. Revenue appears to come from retainer arrangements and project-based engagements with major enterprises and industry associations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Advocates (AdvocatesIncDC) is a government relations and advocacy consulting firm that delivers three core services to businesses, associations, and policy organizations: Business Policy Solutions (navigating local, state, and federal regulatory structures and driving policy implementation), Third Party Advocacy (running nationwide grassroots/grasstops campaigns that use local action to achieve national results), and Targeted Communications (delivering strategic messages through mainstream and social media from trusted sources to influence decision-makers). Revenue is generated through retainer and project-based professional services engagements with major enterprise clients.

Product overview

Advocates (AdvocatesIncDC) is a government relations and advocacy consulting firm offering a unified suite of three interconnected service offerings: Business Policy Solutions, Third Party Advocacy, and Targeted Communications. These services are designed to work together—policy development and compliance support combines with grassroots/messaging campaigns and strategic communications to deliver comprehensive public policy outcomes for clients across multiple sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Policy Solutions Regulatory compliance consulting service that helps enterprise clients navigate complex local, state, and federal regulatory structures, including policy development and driving policy implementation to meet business needs.
• Third Party Advocacy Nationwide advocacy campaign service that leverages a deep grassroots and grasstops network across America to saturate local markets with the client's message and use calculated local action to achieve measurable national results, ensuring persuasive contact with targets using all points of influence.
• Targeted Communications Strategic communications service that plans campaigns around the target audience and delivers unique messages through mainstream and social media from the most trusted sources, at the right time, and in the most organic way, so decision-makers hear the client's story despite saturated media environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients always meet their public policy objectives

Named customers20 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Direct peers

• BGR Group: BGR Group is one of the largest dedicated bipartisan government relations and lobbying firms in Washington, D.C. It is directly comparable to Advocates because both are independent, partner-led firms that provide federal advocacy, public affairs, and strategic communications to major corporate and association clients across multiple sectors.
• Capitol Counsel LLC: Capitol Counsel is a Washington-based government relations firm focused on federal legislative and regulatory advocacy for corporate clients. It mirrors Advocates' model of senior-partner-led engagements serving large enterprises and trade associations on complex policy matters.
• Cornerstone Government Affairs: Cornerstone Government Affairs is a bipartisan lobbying and government affairs firm providing federal advocacy, strategic consulting, and policy advice. It is comparable to Advocates in business model, principal-led delivery, and focus on corporate and association clients in regulated industries.
• Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck: Brownstein is a top-tier Washington, D.C. law and lobbying firm with one of the most recognized government relations practices in the U.S. It competes with Advocates for the same enterprise and association clients seeking federal advocacy and regulatory navigation across energy, healthcare, financial services, and technology.
• Mehlman Consulting: Mehlman Consulting is a bipartisan government relations and public affairs firm in Washington, D.C. with a senior-partner-led delivery model. It serves many of the same Fortune-500 and association clients as Advocates across health, energy, financial services, and technology policy.
• Van Scoyoc Associates: Van Scoyoc Associates is a long-standing Washington, D.C. government relations firm providing federal appropriations, legislative, and regulatory advocacy. It competes with Advocates for similar federal-budget, defense, and science-related enterprise clients and operates on a comparable principal-led model.
• Peck Madigan Jones: Peck Madigan Jones is a Washington-based government relations and strategic consulting firm offering federal advocacy, public affairs, and crisis communications. It parallels Advocates' structure of senior-partner-led advocacy for major corporate and association clients.

Broad incumbents

• Holland & Knight: Holland & Knight is a major U.S. law firm with one of the largest government advocacy practices in Washington, D.C. It overlaps with Advocates on federal legislative and regulatory advocacy for enterprise and association clients, but as a broader legal-and-lobbying incumbent rather than a dedicated advocacy boutique.
• K&L Gates: K&L Gates is a global law firm with a substantial government affairs and public policy practice in Washington, D.C. It serves similar Fortune-500 and association clients as Advocates on legislative and regulatory matters, but as a much broader legal-services incumbent rather than a stand-alone advocacy firm.
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Akin Gump is a major international law firm with a high-profile public policy and regulatory practice. It competes with Advocates for federal advocacy work on behalf of large corporate clients, particularly in energy, financial services, and technology, but operates as a broad incumbent rather than a focused boutique.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/advocatesincdc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Advocates