About Us

Based in Washington, DC, we help clients achieve their goals in the areas of advocacy, government relations, communications and fundraising.

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Why we’re different

We are not your traditional government relations and public affairs firm. Our team brings together a diverse set of skills.

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How we can help

We provide our clients innovative and creative approaches to their issues. We have a smart array of services to achieve your goals.

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Where we’ve succeeded

We have delivered significant results to our clients. Read a few examples of how we applied our skills to solve their complex problems.

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About Us

The VENG Group is not your traditional government relations and public affairs firm. Our team brings together a diverse group of individuals that has experience in almost every workplace sector—state and federal government, public interest/not-for-profit, corporate/private, and academia. Our varied backgrounds provide an unparalleled multi-disciplinary and technological driven approach to problem solving to achieve our clients' goals.

Our team has a proven track record as the “go to” and the “in the know” professionals in Washington, DC. Whether if it’s legislation on the hill, government reform and regulation, developing coalitions, organizing grassroots and grasstops campaigns, working with Republicans or Democrats, or even staffing a client’s communications department, we provide the intelligence, strategies, and resources for our clients to succeed.

News

Democrats will seek to tie Gorsuch to Trump as a judge soft on big business

20th March 2017

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

'Payback': After Republicans silence Elizabeth Warren, Democrats might be in for 'parliamentary warfare'

9th February 2017

Vincent Eng quoted in CBC News

Trump's skepticism on Russian hacking puts his cabinet picks on a tightrope

6th January 2017

Vincent Eng quoted in CBC News

Where the supreme court battle goes from here: 'There will be a huge fight'

31st Deecember 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

Who Will Head the PTO Under Trump?

13th December 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The National Law Journal

As Trump slams 'ridiculous' CIA claims, Mitch McConnell's Russia gamble pays off

13th December 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in CBC News

52 Obama judicial nominees are awaiting confirmation; do any stand a chance?

10th November 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in American Bar Assocociation Journal

With nomination of a Muslim federal judge, is Obama baiting Trump?

7th September 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in Christian Science Monitor

Is the US supreme court broken, and what cases are coming next?

16th May 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

Joe Biden: Merrick Garland nomination intended to offset 'divided government'

24th March 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

Will the U.S. Supreme Court get its first Asian American justice?

11th March 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Washihgton Post

Sri Srinivasan: potential supreme court nominee could break GOP blockade

24th February 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

Sri Srinivasan: potential supreme court nominee could break GOP blockade

24th February 2016

Vincent Eng quoted in The Guardian

Federal Circuit Pick Already a Familiar Face to Court

14th November 2014

Vincent Eng quoted in The Recorder

Possibly Related Transitions

11th November 2014

Kerri Talbot mentioned in Politico

Former Google Lawyer Nominated to Head PTO

16th October 2014

Vincent Eng quoted in The Recorder

Replacing Rader: Sizing up the Short List for the Federal Circuit

11th July 2014

Vincent Eng quoted in The Recorder

Internment Camps Can Happen Again

15th May 2014

Vincent Eng mentioned in Legal Bisnow

For Judicial Nominees, Details About Past Face Scrutiny

13th May 2014

Vincent Eng quoted in The Legal Times

Obama's Judge Picks Advance in Post-Filibuster Senate

14th January 2014

Vincent Eng quoted in The Recorder

Lobbyists Dish on Where They Like to Woo Clients

29th January 2013

Vincent Eng quoted in Eater

Asians Face ‘Bamboo Ceiling’

5th July 2012

Vincent Eng quoted in SHRM.

Firm’s niche: Lobbying for federal judges

10th June 2012

Read our firm's profile in The Washington Post and the ABA Journal.

George Wu Joins the VENG Group as a Partner

11th April 2012

Read our Press Release and additional coverage in The Hill, National Journal, and Politico.

Press Mentions in National Journal and Politico

26th October 2011

The VENG Group was mentioned in National Journal and Politico.

Press Mention in The Hill

25th October 2011

The VENG Group was mentioned in The Hill's Lobbying World.

Team

Vincent focuses on creative and strategic approaches to public policy and communications, including on executive and judicial branch nominations, technology and broadband, health, social justice, and matters of importance to the Asian American community. He is a nationally recognized expert on the senate confirmation process and he has led the lobbying and public relations efforts on the confirmation of nearly one hundred judicial and executive branch nominees. For over a decade, Vincent has been a leader in the Asian American and civil rights community. He served as the Deputy Director of the Asian American Justice Center, Co-Chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Committee on Language Rights, and on the steering committee of Americans for a Fair Chance.

Before founding The VENG Group, Vincent was at a government affairs firm in Washington, DC, where he led the Asian American practice. He also served as the managing editor of a large government clearinghouse of statistical information, where he directed editorial, production, acquisition, and marketing efforts.

Vincent started his career at the U.S. Department of Justice. He currently teaches at Columbia Law School and at Howard Law School. Vincent has written and edited over ten books on various legal and political matters—including a law school casebook on sentencing, sanctions, and corrections—and he has served as the editor-in-chief of the Almanac of the Executive Branch.

George has over 10 years’ experience in non-profit management, organizational development, and coalition building and social justice advocacy. Previously based in Washington, DC, George was most recently the executive director of OCA and chairperson of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. George also taught at the University of Maryland, College Park and served on the Board of Directors of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund, Equal Justice Works, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center.

Prior to joining OCA, George was a staff attorney in the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program of the Asian American Justice Center and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Partners and In-house Counsel Community Law Fellow. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University, George began his career at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. George is also a graduate of the George Washington University Law School, where he received the Justice Thurgood Marshall Civil Liberties Award for outstanding performance in the field of civil rights and civil liberties. George is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland. Born in Taiwan, George speaks conversational Mandarin Chinese and basic Taiwanese.

Mary L. Smith is a former chief executive responsible for managing a national health care system serving approximately 2.2 million persons with a budget of over $6 billion that includes 26 hospitals. She also served as Special Counsel & Estate Trust Officer at the Office of Special Deputy Receiver in Chicago, Illinois where she helped to manage over 20 insurance companies with approximately $1.5 billion in assets.

Previously, she was General Counsel at the Illinois Department of Insurance. Mary has also served as Counselor in the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, focusing on national security, consumer protection, constitutional issues, and legislative matters. While in the private sector, Mary was a Partner at Schoeman Updike & Kaufman; attorney at Skadden Arps; and Senior Litigation Counsel at Tyco International (US) Inc. Mary has worked at the highest levels of government including serving as Associate White House Counsel to the President of the United States and Associate Director of White House Policy Planning. Mary is National Secretary of the American Bar Association, and a past president of the National Native American Bar Association.

Mark Aronson has over 25 years of deal related work experience including; Investment Banking (Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity) as well as Media & Entertainment, having worked on over $9 billion in successful transactions.

Mark began his career at Salomon Bros where he served as a Financial Analyst in the M&A Group. While at Salomon, Mark worked for various clients; including Bally’s and Inter-Continental Hotels as well as the sale of the N.Y. Islanders, Atlanta Falcons & Houston Astros.

A trained graphic artist with a background in marketing, Lindsay provides integrated visual communications, design and technology to VENG clients.

Lindsay earned a bachelor's degree from the University of San Francisco, with emphases in visual arts and business. Lindsay has applied and adapted combined interests in the art and business worlds across various industries ranging from health care to nonprofit.

Prior to joining the VENG Group in 2012, Lindsay worked at a Seattle-based multicultural marketing agency, channeling her artistic eye and interpersonal acumen in her approach toward the agency's creative projects and direct oversight of key agency-client relationships.

Kelsey provides VENG clients with day-to-day and crisis communication operations, strategic communications, and social media consulting.

Prior to joining the VENG Group, Kelsey was a press secretary in the US House, working for Democratic Members in the Southwest. She coordinated media hits and subsequent outreach for immigration and veterans events, and also handled responses to the 2013 government shutdown and events in Syria and Iran.

A proud Longhorn, Kelsey graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Spanish and political communication.

Joyce provides the VENG Group with policy research and analysis and assistance in communications.

Before joining the VENG Group, Joyce served in both the public and private sectors as an intern in the US House and a Nashville-based consulting group.

Joyce holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vanderbilt University, where she also served as a chair on the programming board and president of Vandy Moneythink, a financial literacy program.

Services

The VENG Group provides its clients innovative and creative approaches to their issues. We have a smart array of offerings and services to achieve your goals:

  • Public Policy Advising

  • Government Relations / Federal and State Lobbying

  • Coalition / Community Building and Outreach

  • Multicultural Outreach and Advocacy

  • Political / Nominee Counseling

  • Innovative Technological Solutions for Advocacy

  • Technical Project Management

  • Grassroots / Grasstops Outreach and Campaigns

  • Public Relations / Message Development

  • Strategic Communications

  • Day-to-Day Communications Operations

  • Brand
    Development

  • Fundraising

  • Conferences and Events

Successes

Political / Nominee Counseling

Situation

The wait for a nominee to be confirmed to the Federal Judiciary can be long and contentious.

Solution

We led the confirmation strategy and nationwide outreach on dozens of federal judicial nominations, including Goodwin Liu, nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit and Edward M. Chen, nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Our work spanned from engaging thousands of individuals to lobby the Senate to ensure the President’s judicial nominees received a floor vote to briefing the Senators on the merits of the nominee.

Grassroots / Grasstops Outreach and Campaigns

Situation

Comcast/NBCUniversal was negotiating Memorandums of Understanding with various communities as part of the forthcoming merger. A cable television content provider needed visibility in the MOU merger discussions to gain nationwide carriage to successfully implement its business model.

Solution

We worked with key stakeholders and the cable and telecommunications industry to position our client as the premier cable television content provider for carriage. Upon the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger, our client was selected as the single cable content provider that would receive carriage as part of one of the negotiated MOUs.

Fundraising

Situation

The U.S. Congressional Tri-Caucus—Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus—each have their individual Political Action Committee except the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Solution

We worked with Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to establish the CAPAC Leadership PAC—the first PAC governed by U.S. Congressional Members in support of federal candidates that are supportive of the Asian and Pacific Islander American community.

Coalition / Community Building and Outreach

Situation

Lack of diversity and glass ceiling issues continue to be a problem in the law enforcement community.

Solution

We worked with the leading national African American, Asian American, Latino, and Women law enforcement associations to launch the National Council of Law Enforcement Organizations (NCLEO). Since its formation, NCLEO members have testified before Congress and been an invaluable resource to key stakeholders in Washington, DC.

Day-to-Day Communications Operations

Situation

Having a fully staffed media and communications department can be out of reach for many nonprofits.

Solution

The VENG Group successfully provides day-to-day operations of media and communications departments for a number of nonprofit advocacy organizations, as well as providing strategic communications planning. Our work has included every task from press releases, website maintenance and development, to op-ed drafting and placement.

Contact

Washington, DC