As President of the Government Relations Association (GRA), I want to thank you for entrusting me with the responsibility and duty to continue to represent and dignify the community of government relations leaders. Come join us to become part of the leading association dedicated to representing and championing the family of government relations professionals around the world. Join Now!

What's Ahead for 2026

1. GRA has launched a new website and industry-leading association management platform focused on providing enhanced member benefits and growing engagement with our community. Here you can:

• Sign up for a variety of membership options that best fit your needs and budget.
• Take part in our annual profession survey and see the results on how you relate to your industry peers.
• Learn best practices and standards.
• Find your next job or next associate through our job board.
• Receive affinity discounts on products and services you use.
• Engage in professional development.
• Discover opportunities to lead by serving on our board of directors or our standing and select committees.
• Identify events to attend and participate in.

2. We have many exciting informational, educational, and networking events identified for 2026 that will include in-person meetings with Members of Congress, issue webinars, professional development training, and rooftop networking receptions at our new K Street NW offices. We also have many hosting opportunities now available for Organizational Members.

3. Learn about forming an affiliated chapter in your international, state, or local area.

4. Connect with industry peers while supporting at-need college students and future leaders at GRA’s 4^th annual Charity Golf Tournament this fall.

Challenges

I was drawn to this profession because when you come to think of it, there is no entity that impacts our daily lives more than government. From the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, roads we drive on, schools we learn in, and communities we feel safe at. Policy one way or the other can positively or negatively impact those experiences. Like many of you, I gain purpose by helping make a difference in people’s lives and shaping policies for good.

Vibrant communities and a thriving free society in America require speaking up and working together to accomplish this collective good. Government relations professionals commit to this effort by representing the interests of their clients, organizations, and industries and using their voice to inform the public debate with elected officials and policymakers. Rights so important they were included in the 1^st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, where the intent of James Madison allows people in America to peaceably assemble, freely speak and publish their sentiments, and petition their government for a redress of grievances. 

As a Constitutionalist and government relations professional, I want to help others exercise those rights. As a moral person, I also seek to do something good while doing it.

However, the government relations profession is often misunderstood and worse it can carry stigma and negative connotation toward being a part of the secretive deep state, where back room deals benefit special interests and not everyday Americans. Lobbying, to those outside the beltway, seems like an exclusive country club where your interests aren’t let in. The profession can convey a poor public image and reputation, look out of touch, out of reach, superficial, lack credibility, and perpetuate a record of exclusion.

We often can’t see the forest for the trees. We must work to win back trust with a new voice, message, and direction focused on purpose and value. I believe positive engagement with the public, government, associations, companies, employees, and media helps protect and enhance brand identity, image, credibility, and purpose. Being able to see where all the dots connect, while managing an array of internal strategic components for alignment, and then effectively communicating a resonating message, is both a science and a skill that members of this profession routinely do and we need to champion this.

It is not just the general public we need to win back; but also the organizations and companies we help represent to governments. For example, corporate affairs is a discipline within the family of government relations that is synonymous with public affairs and corporate communications but more encompassing and dynamic as it facilitates connections inside and outside an organization and maintains relationships with an assortment of stakeholders. Think of the maestro in an orchestra where each plays their own unique instrument, but they make them work together to form harmony.

C-Suite leaders largely don’t understand our profession. We don't speak the same language. But we are nevertheless evaluated without making a strong case known that we guard the reputation, act as builders of trust, cultivate positive relationships and partnerships, and capture the imagination and the heart of our audience.

From an organizational effectiveness perspective, those in our profession must demonstrate alignment alongside public relations to help shape messaging to the public, media relations who control paid and owned media and shape earned media, investor relations to determine growth impacts, factor in CSR & ESG intersections in the broader ecosystem, all while navigating enabling policy and influencing decisions.  

Government relations professionals need to better position itself within corporate strategy, business development, and communications. Show policyscaping and foresight strategies instead of just being reactionary when navigating uncertainty. See trends, mitigate crisis, identify opportunities for advantage, stay resilient and adaptable, and leverage established relationships.

With increasing turnover of elected officials and policymakers, the skill set of having subject matter expertise, knowing how policy is made, the ability to work across a diverse set of stakeholders, connect all the dots, and explain how policies relate to one another in interconnected ways is vital toward demonstrating ROI.

Thirty-five members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026.

Recent media attention shows our industry is essential too in moments of corporate crisis. It’s what you say and how you say it in a timely compassionate matter. Bring in alternative viewpoints to avoid inherent biases. And quiet the noise. A lot of information and data comes in. Not all is accurate or important as others or relevant. It is important to distill information for leadership in terms of what is relevant and most important in an advisory capacity while leaning into mission, values, and principles when answers aren’t clear.  

How to Show, Not Tell, Your Government Relations Team Adds Value - Nneka Chiazor, President and CEO, Public Affairs Council

Opportunities

This association can be a voice linking international, national, and regional industry best practices, social value, and content to the next generation of leaders and the important public role we play as advocates of the 1st Amendment right to petition. 

I am not advocating for creating something new really, I just want to upgrade something everyone else is largely ignoring.

How can we focus a turn toward a more skill-structured, merit-based, performance measured, professional endeavor, with less of an exclusive and non-diverse country club with a deep state mentality?

How can we ensure the profession stays modern and up to date with emerging practices? 

"Advocacy means a lot more than lobbying. The days when a well-connected lobbyist in a smoke-filled room could cut a deal with a senator have been over for a while. Success now requires strategic campaigns that marry compelling collateral with broad stakeholder engagement. A think tank or a journalist may be just as important as a lawmaker, and finding alignment among industry players often is a prerequisite for having any hope of engaging Congress." -C. Stuart Verdery Jr., founder of Monument Advocacy

I believe we can help develop a distinct academically lead, industry-independent, rigorous government relations certificate program at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. There is growing interest in certification programs that provide real-world experiential learning and career pathways to young professionals, as well as professional development to senior professionals looking to get ahead and have an edge in their field. 

These earned marks would designate sets of skills as industry-leading toward demonstrating proficiency, measuring performance, demonstrating ethical considerations, and providing ROI and value propositions to the C-Suite. Professionals in government relations almost unanimously agree that it is very hard to measure results, which this certificate alone could help justify.

In 2026, a sister 501(c)(3) organization will launch with the support of GRA. The Government Relations Education and Development Institute (GREDI) will seek partnerships with higher education and industry stakeholders to develop a best in class certificate program nationwide. A key component will include entrepreneurship in government relations.

"There’s plenty of room in Washington for policy entrepreneurship. A wave of new voices has shown that fresh organizations sometimes can be more influential than established ones, who are often bogged down in legacy and outdated governance. Lean, mission-driven groups can punch above their weight quickly. Washington doesn’t need fewer voices; it needs sharper ones." –Adam Kovacevich, Chamber of Progress

Anointed experts are often more wrong than humble commoners. The monopoly of voice needs to end and let the truth and best ideas compete to win.

Most clients appreciate the fact that new talent may be needed for new challenges. Adaptability and curiosity are essential attributes to consider. 

More competition is needed to self-correct some of the aforementioned ills of the profession. Entrepreneurs will be key in determining if there is a gap in the market and a market in the gap? They will have to answer what problem they want to solve and for whom? They will have to outline how other groups aren’t doing what is needed to address a problem? They will need to demonstrate why they are uniquely suited and developed to take on that task.

Tax deductible contributions and grants would also help GREDI support socioeconomically disadvantaged students and those who can bring diversity, including diversity of thought from lived and learned experiences, into the profession.

I hope that you will come join us to help shape this exciting journey! Become a GRA member today! Join Now!

Alan Knapp, President

Pursuant to Article IX, Section 1 of the GRA Bylaws, the President may communicate to members their suggestions to promote the welfare and increase the usefulness of GRA.