MEET BRANDON J. FLOOD - LOBBYIST/ ADVOCACY SPECIALIST
Brandon has been a mainstay inside of local and state governent for more than a decade. From April 1, 2019, through January of 2022, Brandon J. Flood served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. During his tenure as Secretary, he was responsible for modernizing Pennsylvania’s executive clemency process, streamlining the Board’s filing and administrative review protocols, increasing the overall number of clemency applicants by more than 400 percent and making the executive clemency process as accessible as its every been since its inception in 1872. Prior to his appointment, former Secretary Flood spent nearly a decade working for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served in a multitude of professional capacities, that of which include the positions of Legislative Assistant, Senior Research Analyst for the House Democratic Caucus' Legislative Policy & Research Office (LPRO) and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.
Following his tenure with the House of Representatives, he went on to serve as Legislative Director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU-PA) State Council, which currently holds the distinction of being Pennsylvania's second largest public sector union. He also served as Policy & Reporting Specialist for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services' Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities (BDISBO) and as the chief lobbyist for CeaseFirePA.
Former Secretary Flood resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he currently serves as President of Bro2Go, Inc. In addition, he is also the Principal/Founder of the Lazarus Firm, which is a company that provides administrative support/consultation to prospective executive clemency applicants, deserving individuals that are seeking to expunge their criminal histories, and Pennsylvania-based employers that are interested in developing reentrant-friendly employment screening policies.
WHAT I do well?
1
Effective Lobbying
I provide effective lobbying services in Pennsylvania to help you achieve your goals.
2
Strategic Advocacy
My strategic advocacy services help shape public policy and create positive change.
3
Government Relations
I build and maintain strong relationships with government officials to represent your interests.
- Brandon has adopted a three-prong approach when it comes to securing favorable outcomes for his clients. As an independently contracted government relations specialist/lobbyist, his services are specifically geared towards entities (businesses, political subdivisions, etc.) that seek to outsource their government relations needs due to the absence of in-house government affairs representation.
- His services are also geared towards government relations firms/principals that deem it more expedient or cost-effective to outsource their government affairs needs on a contractual basis.
- Lastly, when it comes to small to intermediate sized nonprofits and businesses, my services include but are not limited to the following:
- Direct advocacy for relevant public policy on the local, state or federal level.
- Assistance with the development, drafting and introduction of relevant legislation, ordinances or resolutions.
- Tracking and monitoring of relevant ordinances, legislation and/or regulatory rules.
- Development of legislative/policy based scorecards.
- Consultation and assistance with coordinating 'advocacy' or 'legislative' days at the Pennsylvania State House in Harrisburg, PA.
- Assistance with the drafting testimony, talking points, and op eds.
- Surveying, polling, and community engagement.
- Assistance with the coordinating town halls, forums and symposiums.
- Assistance with the coordination of press conferences, rallies and protests.
- Assistance with engaging local governing bodies for the purposes of permitting, zoning, or development.
- Assistance with navigating local, state and federal grantmaking programs.
proven experience
- The breadth of Brandon's government relations experience includes but is not limited to the following:
- Extensive experience with bill drafting, speech writing, the development of formal testimony/talking points, research & analysis, polling and surveying, constituent advocacy and stakeholder engagement.
- More than a decade of government relations experience, with 8 of those years as a legislative staffer with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
- Senior and executive level legislative experience with an emphasis on local, state, and federal government relations.
- Proven track record of consensus building and advancing public policy in a bipartisan/bicameral manner.
- Previously served as the chief lobbyist for the Pennsylvania NAACP State Conference and SEIU State Council (the latter of which holds the distinction of being Pennsylvania’s second largest public sector union).
- Criminal justice reform leader; Previously served as Secretary of an executive/criminal justice agency.
- Local government experience and the successful advancement of local policy/ordinances.
- Previously served as a member of the Steelton Zoning Hearing Board.
- Previously served as the chief lobbyist for Pennsylvania's leading gun violence prevention advocacy organization.
key successes to date
- Several of Brandon's widely recognized professional accomplishments include but are not limited to:
- Instituted a full-time Equal Opportunity Officer and attendant Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
- Successfully advanced legislation urging the City of Harrisburg, the House Democratic Caucus and the Wolf administration (HR-TM001 of 2017) to institute a "ban the box" policy relating to employment opportunities under their respective jurisdictions.
- Successfully advanced Occupational and Professional Licensure Reform through the Pennsylvania General Assembly (Act 53 of 2020).
- Partnered with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP) in an effort to target Pennsylvania employers that unfairly discriminate against applicants possessing criminal histories.
- In addition, from 2015 through February of 2019, I served as Chairman of the Pennsylvania NAACP's Political Action Committee and in 2016 was appointed by the National NAACP to serve as its Civic Engagement Coordinator for Pennsylvania, where I played a contributory role in registering over 1 million new voters across the commonwealth.
- Successfully advanced cannabis decriminalization ordinances through Harrisburg City Council and Steelton Borough Council.
- Successfully advanced firearm access policy out of the Pennsylvania House chamber (Universal Background Checks, Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Ghost Gun Regulatory legislation) during the 2024-25 Legislative Session.
- Successfully advanced firearm access policy through the Harrisburg City, York City Council and Reading City Councils in 2024.
- Successfully advanced legislation mandating that expungement automatically follow the issuance of a pardon by the Governor in Pennsylvania (Act 36 of 2023).
- Successfully advanced ordinances that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the City of Harrisburg and the Borough of Steelton.
- Played a signicant role in bringing the first medical marijuana dispensary to Dauphin County.
Contact me
For more information about how I can best assist you and your needs, please feel free to reach out to me for a free consultation.