Introduction to Advocacy | 2022

Nina is both Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs at Americans for the Arts as well as the Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund. Since 1993, Nina has served as the chief policy strategist for Americans for the Arts’ federal, state, and local government and public affairs work, grassroots advocacy campaigns, policy development, and national coalition-building efforts with both cultural and civic organizations to advance the arts in America. In 2009, she spearheaded the very successful “Arts = Jobs” advocacy campaign that strategically secured $50 million of federal support for more than 7,000 arts jobs and millions of dollars more for arts infrastructure projects within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Nina produces several programmatic events annually, including National Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill; the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and the National Public Leadership in the Arts Awards, which are presented in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors.

Serving simultaneously as the executive director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and its connected Political Action Committee, the only dedicated arts PAC in America, Nina mobilizes the political and legislative efforts of more than 420,000 citizen activists in advancing arts policy issues among legislators and candidates seeking federal public office.  She recently completed ArtsVote2012, culminating with high profile arts policy events at both the Republican National Convention in Tampa and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. She is a graduate of The George Washington University with a B.A. in French Literature, and of The University of Richmond School of Law with a J.D.  She is a member of the Virginia State Bar.

As Advocacy Manager, Tera’s key responsibilities include communicating Americans for the Arts’ message to Congress and the Administration, and advancing the organization’s grassroots advocacy throughout the country. Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, she served as a Government Affairs Associate with The Ohio State University’s Office of Government Affairs and worked on Capitol Hill in the offices of Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez (NY-07) and Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11).

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tera-proby-82367454

David Reid is deeply embedded in Democratic politics and draws on his personal network on the Hill, in the Biden administration, and throughout the business community to build coalitions that drive policy success for clients. He works hand in glove with clients to lead complex public policy efforts related to infrastructure, hospitality, gaming, health care, technology, telecommunications, and arts and entertainment.

David leverages his extensive political finance experience to maximize the impact of clients’ political giving. He also leads Brownstein’s bipartisan political operation, setting the industry standard for political engagement each cycle with Republican and Democratic congressional and national campaign committees and candidates. He serves as a Deputy National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee of the Democratic Governors Association.

Before joining Brownstein, David served as the Washington D.C. and PAC finance director at Hillary for America. Prior, he worked as the Mid-Atlantic finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, ran the political finance operation of a Fortune 50 global health care company, and served as the deputy finance director of the Democratic Governors Association.

David is an active member of the firm’s pro-bono committee and co-leads the firm’s LGBT+ Affinity Group. Among his many outside involvements, David serves on the executive committee of the One Victory and LGBTQ Victory Institute board, the governing bodies of the LGBTQ Victory Fund and Institute, and is a member of the board for Q Street, the professional association of LGBTQ lobbyists and public policy advocates. 

Narric Rome serves as Vice President for Government Affairs and Arts Education at Americans for the Arts.  In his role he manages federal, state, and local government advocacy, grassroots campaigns, policy development, and national coalition-building efforts with cultural, civic, and private sector organizations with the goal of influencing public policies that advance direct and indirect support for the arts and arts education.

Narric is responsible for promoting the Americans for the Arts’ message to Congress and the Biden Administration, and leading the policy development for the annual National Arts Action Summit, including Arts Advocacy Day, which involves coordinating over 85 arts organizations as partners. In 2019, the advocacy effort by Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund to "#SaveTheNEA" was celebrated by the Public Affairs Council with their Lobbying Innovation Award.

Most recently, Narric has pursued a national campaign to boost the creative economy and workforce by building support for a trio of congressional bills including the Creative Economy Revitalization Act, the CREATE Act and PLACE Act in Congress.

Narric also oversees the Americans for the Arts education program that seeks equitable access to the arts through advocacy at the national, state and local levels. This work has included overseeing a $1.5 mil. three-year multi-state policy initiative, and successful passage of the National Arts In Education Week resolution through both bodies of Congress.

Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, Narric worked on the policy staff of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign in Vermont and served as a legislative aide to Secretary Richard Riley at the U.S. Department of Education where he received the Peer Recognition Award in 1999.  Earlier in his career, Narric worked on Capitol Hill, at the Podesta Group and on several state and national political campaigns. He is the immediate past-president of the Vermont State Society.

Narric holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.