About Us
At DBS Public Affairs Group, we are more than just a consultancy firm – we are catalysts for change.
We specialize in offering lobbying, strategic communications, budget advocacy, strategic planning, government contracting acquisition consulting, and issues advocacy consulting services to our clients. In addition to decades of state and federal government experience, members of our team have worked as senior staff and agency heads for a total of six Governors from both major political parties in Virginia and in Maryland and in the Executive Branch. Our experience navigating these arenas is second to none.
Trust DBS Public Affairs Group to deliver exceptional results.
Our Story
At DBS Public Affairs Group, we are driven by a powerful passion and vision: to empower our clients to thrive and succeed. Founded by experienced government administrators and public policy experts, Ida McPherson, Rich Williams, and Jack Howard, who are all seasoned leaders with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, our firm is dedicated to excellence and inclusivity. DBS Public Affairs Group is more than a business venture for our partners. It is personal. Through our extensive consulting services and program management expertise, we guide our clients in navigating the complex government public policy arena, helping them achieve their goals. With a passion for empowerment and a commitment to fostering strategic alliances, we go beyond consultancy by collaborating with our clients to connect them with key decisionmakers to create sustainable partnerships that will lead to opportunities for success in the public and political arena. Together, we are passionate about building a future where our clients’ economic prosperity and their public policy successes go hand in hand.
Core Competencies
Lobbying and Government Relations
Budget Advocacy
Coalition Building
Strategic Communications
Political Affairs Consulting
Government Contracting Acquisition Services & Procurement Strategy Consulting
We look forward to working with you to help you achieve your organization’s public sector goals and objectives.
Our Executive Leadership Team
Ida McPherson
Managing Partner
Direct Phone: 757-822-8902
imcpherson@dbspublicaffairsgroup.com
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Ida McPherson is one of Virginia’s longest serving and most respected African American female attorneys.
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Attorney McPherson was appointed by Republican Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell in 2010 to serve as the Director of the Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise, which later became the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity. In addition to her senior executive level Program Management duties as the Director of this important state agency, she was also responsible for administering special financing programs for Virginia small businesses that totaled $8.5 billion annually in state funded grants and loans as the head of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority.
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In her appointed statewide leadership position as an Advisor to the Governor, she was responsible for managing the State’s Small, Women-owned and Minority owned (SWaM) Certification Program. In this key role for the Governor, she also successfully secured an annual average of $2.8 billion in state government procurement contracts that were awarded to certified Small, Women-owned and Minority owned businesses.
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She was also appointed by Republican Virginia Governor James Gilmore to serve on The Virginia Manufactured Housing Board
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Ida is an Honors Cum Laude Graduate of the prestigious Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., where she earned a Juris Doctor Degree.
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She is also a Past President of the Virginia Association of Black Women Attorneys, which positioned her to be able to establish a network of high-level contacts throughout the Commonwealth that will benefit our clients.
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Born and raised in Suffolk, Virginia, Ida is a highly skilled attorney, and her concentration is in business, government affairs and contract law.
Jack Howard
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Jack has the unique experience of having been appointed by four Governors, from both major political parties, and from two different states, to serve in their Gubernatorial Administrations.
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He was first appointed by Virginia Governor Mark Warner in 2002 to serve in his Administration and he was then re-appointed by Governor Tim Kaine in 2006. In 2010, he was re-appointed to a leadership position by Governor Bob McDonnell to serve in a key role in state government. In his leadership position, he served as a Policy Analyst as well as one of the Governor’s top appointed
officials who was responsible for increasing the percentage of the Commonwealth’s annual multi-billion-dollar procurement budget that was contractually awarded to certified Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned businesses (SWaM) and to certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) companies and to veteran owned businesses.
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In the private sector, he garnered over 25 years of experience as a Business Development Executive, Political Consultant, Strategic Communications Professional, and as a Marketing Professional. He is also experienced in Media Relations after having served for eight years as a News Radio Talk Show Host at WNIS News Radio Station in Norfolk Virginia and as a Television Commentator for numerous television stations in the Hampton Roads Region of Virginia.
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Most recently, he served at the Maryland Department of General Services from 2015 – January 2023 in Governor Larry Hogan’s administration as the Assistant Secretary for Business Enterprise Administration where he oversaw several major state programs that are valued at over $2 billion.
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He was also selected by Norfolk Virginia native Tim Reid, who is a Television Actor and Movie Director and Mr. Reid’s wife, actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, to serve as the founding Co-Executive Director of The Tim Reid Scholarship Foundation. In this community based organizational leadership position, Jack successfully raised over $1 million for scholarships that the Foundation awarded to underprivileged students who were seeking to attend college in Virginia and earn a degree that would change their lives for the better.
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He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Mississippi College in Clinton Mississippi.
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Jack is also a proud military veteran who served honorably on active duty and in reserves in the U.S. Navy for seven years.
Ulysses 'Jack' Howard
Senior Partner
Direct Phone: 757-717-0349
Jhoward@dbspublicaffairsgroup.com
Rich Williams
Rich Williams
Senior Partner
Direct Phone: 804-839-3539
Rwilliams@dbspublicaffairsgroup.com
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Richard “Rich” Williams has over 30 years of combined experience as a distinguished appointed leader in state and federal government and as a business executive. He has served as a gubernatorial appointee in the administrations of three Governors of Virginia, as the appointed State Director for a United States Senator and as a Senior Advisor to the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In these leadership roles, Rich was responsible for developing and maintaining positive relationships with members of the General Assembly and with business leaders and community leaders throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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He also served as the Acting Director and as Deputy Director of the Virginia Lottery, which is a state agency that currently oversees over $3 billion in revenue that benefits Virginia’s public schools throughout the Commonwealth. In his leadership role with the Virginia Lottery, he also developed and managed this major state agency’s guidelines that focused on achieving the goals of the Governor’s Small, Women and Minority (SWaM) Business Plan and he significantly increased the Virginia Lottery’s annual procurement spend with certified Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned companies.
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As a Special Advisor to the Governor, he also served as the Governor’s Liaison for regular regional meetings between leaders of the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Washington D.C. In this role in the Office of the Governor, he also promoted efforts of Regional Tourism, Transportation related issues and restoration of The Chesapeake Bay. He also collaborated with various constituent groups throughout Virginia to promote diverse gubernatorial appointments and public policy initiatives including working with communities to secure more resources for crime reduction, after school programs and healthcare services for children in need.
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He also served for several years as a business development executive and business to business sales professional in Virginia for AFLAC Inc., which is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States with annual revenue that exceeds $22 billion each year.
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He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Government from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, which is one of our nation’s most prestigious academic universities.
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He resides in the Richmond area community of Glen Allen with his wife Karen.
Company
DBS Public Affairs Group
4445 Corporation Lane, Suite 162 Virginia Beach, Va. 23462