Team Category: Speakers Bureau

Joshua Grogis

Joshua Grogis is Managing Director with BGR Group where he is a leader of the firm’s Appropriations Practice. As a veteran congressional strategist and public policy advisor with more than two decades of experience at the highest levels of the U.S. House of Representatives, Josh advises clients on a wide range of complex legislative challenges including appropriations and tribal relations.

Over the course of his career, Josh has developed extensive expertise in federal appropriations, legislative negotiations, coalition building, public policy, government relations, political strategy, and organizational leadership. He is widely recognized for his ability to navigate complex legislative environments, build consensus among diverse stakeholders, and deliver results on high-priority initiatives.

Josh previously served as Senior Advisor to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), providing counsel on legislative strategy, committee operations, federal funding priorities, stakeholder engagement, and the annual appropriations process. He served in a similar role with Chairman Cole when he served as Chairman of the influential House Rules Committee. 

In these roles, Grogis worked closely with congressional leadership, committee members, federal agencies, tribal governments, state and local officials, universities, non-profit organizations, and private-sector stakeholders to advance policy and funding initiatives across the federal government. He has played a key role in developing and negotiating major appropriations legislation and navigating complex bipartisan legislative matters impacting virtually every federal department and agency. 

Previously, Grogis served as Chief of Staff to Chairman Cole from 2018 to 2024, overseeing all aspects of the Congressman’s Washington and Oklahoma operations, including legislative strategy, appropriations priorities, communications, constituent services, political operations, and stakeholder relations. 

Josh also served as District Director in for Chairman Cole in Oklahoma, leading constituent outreach and government relations efforts across the Fourth Congressional District, and previously served as a Legislative Aide in Washington, D.C., managing a broad policy portfolio that included healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, energy, taxation, financial services, judiciary issues, immigration, Social Security, and small business matters. He also directed Congressman Cole’s work on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Earlier in his congressional service, Grogis served as Executive Assistant to Congressman Cole during his tenure as Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), gaining firsthand experience in national political strategy, campaign operations, and leadership-level decision making.

Josh has also worked in commercial real estate and development and co-founded an Oklahoma-based government affairs firm that advised clients on a broad range of federal, state, and local policy matters.

Kellie Adesina

Kellie Adesina is a Vice President with BGR Group’s Commerce and Infrastructure practice. With extensive experience in both the public and private sector, including on Capitol Hill and in the Obama administration, Kellie works with clients on a wide range of food and agriculture and policy issues.  

Kellie previously served as Director of Federal Government Affairs at Kraft Heinz, where she helped manage advocacy efforts in food and agricultural spaces. She served in a similar role at Bayer where she focused on crop science issues like gene editing, biotech, and pesticides.  

On Capitol Hill, Kellie served as Chief Counsel on the House Agriculture Committee for Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D-MN). In this role, she was integral to drafting key portions of the 2018 Farm Bill, which passed with bipartisan support.   

Prior to her service with the Agriculture Committee, Kellie was Senior Counselor in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Kellie also served as Legislative Director to Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) and Legislative Counsel to Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA). She began her career on Capitol Hill working for Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), her home state Senator. 

Kellie is a founder of Black Professionals in Food and Agriculture (BPFA), chair of the Board of Directors for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), and a member of the Board of Directors for CHC: Creating Healthier Communities, Board of Directors for the Farm Foundation, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Sean Cooksey

Sean Cooksey, a former senior official in the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill, works as a Managing Director with BGR Group’s Commerce and Infrastructure Practice. He brings a wealth of executive branch, legislative, and private sector experience to his work with clients on issues ranging from congressional oversight and investigations, competition and antitrust matters, intellectual property and technology policy, and litigation support.

Prior to joining the BGR team, Sean was Counsel to Vice President JD Vance. In this role, he served as the Vice President’s chief legal adviser and a senior policy staffer within the White House. As part of the Trump-Vance administration, he regularly advised the Vice President and senior White House staff on constitutional law, domestic policy, ethics, and executive and judicial nominations.

Previously, Sean was a member of the Federal Election Commission, after being nominated by President Trump in 2020. Sean served on the FEC for four years and was elected Chairman for the 2024 presidential election year, overseeing an agency of 300 staff to administer federal campaign-finance law.

Sean began his political career in the United States Senate, where he served as General Counsel for Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Deputy Chief Counsel for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). During his tenure in both offices, Sean worked on the Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary on some of the Senate’s most high-stakes matters, including major legislation and two Supreme Court confirmations.

Prior to his Senate service, Sean worked at an international law firm in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on appeals and constitutional law. He also served as a law clerk for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston, Texas.

Sean has appeared on television, on radio, and in print in outlets such as The Ingraham Angle, Varney & Co., Morning Edition, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Axios, and Politico. He speaks regularly at major conferences, including the Republican National Lawyers Association and the National Association of Business PACs.

Keith Kellogg

Lieutenant General Joseph “Keith” Kellogg, U.S. Army (Ret.), is a highly decorated Army General who served as an Assistant to the President and Senior National Security Advisor to President Trump during his first term as well as National Security Advisor to Vice President Pence and until December 2025 as Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine during his second term. 

General Kellogg’s career spans combat operations, senior White House leadership, and executive roles in the defense and international business sectors. A longtime national-security advisor to President Trump, he most recently served as Assistant to the President and Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine, appointed in November 2024. 

During President Trump’s first term, Gen. Kellogg served as Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council, Acting National Security Advisor in 2017, National Security Advisor the Vice President and senior foreign-policy advisor to the 2016 presidential campaign. His White House service built upon a long military career marked by operational command, strategic leadership, and technical expertise. 

Kellogg served two combat tours in Vietnam. Over a 36-year military career, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and held critical positions including Commander, 82nd Airborne Division and J-6, Director of Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4) for U.S. forces under the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, and multiple Bronze Stars. 

In the private sector, he served on the board of GTSI, held senior roles at Oracle Corporation—including a period on leave during which he served as Chief Operations Officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq—and received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for his contributions to Iraq’s post-war stabilization. He later served as Executive Vice President for Mission Systems at CACI International and held several senior positions at Cubic Defense Applications. 

Patrick McHenry

Former Congressman Patrick McHenry, who represented North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2025, serves on BGR’s Advisory Board. In this role, he works with BGR Group’s Financial Services and Tax Practice Group to provide strategic counsel on issues ranging from expanding access to financial markets to tax and reconciliation process. During his time in the House, McHenry served as Republican Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, a committee he served on throughout his tenure in Congress. 

Also during his time in Congress, McHenry served in various positions of leadership. In 2015, he was selected by then House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (LA) to be the Chief Deputy Whip. As Chief Deputy Whip, Chairman McHenry directly assisted Majority Whip Scalise by building consensus for the conservative policy agenda of the House Republican Conference. One of his proudest accomplishments as Chief Deputy Whip was the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which helped to fix our nation’s broken tax code and provided much-needed tax relief to American families and businesses.  

During the 113th Congress, Chairman McHenry served as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. In this role, he provided oversight of the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal financial regulators.  

McHenry previously served a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Prior to being elected to Congress in 2004 at the age of 29, Chairman McHenry represented the 109th District in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, a post he was appointed to by President George W. Bush.  

Steve Benjamin

Mayor Steve Benjamin is a Co-Chair of BGR Group’s Advisory Board. Steve was previously a member of the Advisory Board before he served as a Senior Advisor to President Biden and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. He brings decades of experience in government, public engagement, and municipal leadership to his work with BGR and its clients. He is a remarkably credentialed and distinguished leader who connects people and builds coalitions to find solutions to tough challenges.  

Prior to his service in the Biden-Harris administration, Steve was the Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina from April 2010 through December 2021. During his time as Mayor, he served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2018-2019), as President of the African American Mayors Association, Vice Chairman of the Global Parliament of Mayors, Executive Chairman of Municipal Bonds for America, Chairman of the FirstNet Authority, a Member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. 

Mayor Benjamin also has a background in education. He was the Spring 2022 Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He previously served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Carolina’s top ranked Honors College teaching a course titled “Columbia, South Carolina: Building a Great City” and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. Benjamin is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served as President of Student Government and as President of the Student Bar Association.    

Matt Hoffmann

Matt Hoffmann is a Capitol Hill veteran and fiscal policy expert who helps lead BGR’s Financial Services practice. Matt is a leader in the financial services space with extensive government and private sector experience. He helps clients navigate policy challenges ranging from tax to digital assets to the regulation of the crypto industry.

Matt previously served as a Principal at BGR Group from 2018 to 2021 when he worked across multiple practice groups including Health and Life Sciences and Financial Services. Most recently, he was the Director of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Digital Asset, a leading blockchain software company.

Matt has also served in several high-profile positions on Capitol Hill including as Staff Director for the House Financial Services Committee and as a senior advisor in the Office of the Speaker of the House. As the Staff Director for the House Financial Services Committee, he was the chief advisor to Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and helped manage committee business including its response to the 2023 banking crisis, advancement of capital market reforms, and creation of the first-ever Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee. Matt was also instrumental in the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), and other legislation including the Expanding Access to Capital Act, and the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act. Matt also served as Policy Director at the Senate Finance Committee and as a senior advisor to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) during his service on the House Budget and Ways and Means Committees, and eventually in the Speaker’s office.

Raghav Aggarwal

Raghav Aggarwal, Principal, joined BGR in October 2023. He helps clients identify challenges and opportunities created by today’s political and policy environment, formulate policy solutions to address them, and advocate for those solutions in both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. He succeeds for his clients by relying on his significant experience as a leader in the health care policy space, strong technical expertise, and deep understanding of the policymaking process.

Prior to joining BGR, Raghav held a variety of senior roles with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) over a period spanning three different administrations. Most recently, as Senior Advisor, he helped oversee a vast array of policy and operational work related to the $400 billion Medicare Advantage and Part D programs, including implementation of the drug pricing and payment reform provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).

Previously, Raghav served on the Majority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, on detail from CMS as Senior Health Policy Advisor. In that role, he managed legislation and advised Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) on the prescription drug pricing, Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage policy portfolios, among other health care issues. Raghav most notably led the development of the IRA’s drug pricing and payment reform provisions and helped to successfully negotiate passage of the landmark legislation that he also eventually helped implement.

Raghav has received numerous honors and awards for his meaningful contributions to federal health care policy, including the HHS Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Management, one of the highest honors granted by the Department and conferred by the Secretary.

Labriah Lee Holt

Labriah Lee Holt joined BGR in October 2023. She serves as a Vice President with the State and Local Advocacy Practice and Director of the firm’s Atlanta office. Her role capitalizes on her vast experience in bipartisan advocacy and law, where she has established strong connections with Democratic policy makers nationwide.  Labriah helps clients strategize policy campaigns that advance their objectives and advances the firm’s outreach to Democratic governors, mayors and attorneys general.

Prior to joining BGR, Labriah was State Government Affairs Director for Microsoft. In this capacity, she spearheaded initiatives across the southeast, engaging with state and local officials on key issues such as artificial intelligence, datacenter expansion, cybersecurity, privacy, education, and broadband access. Her adeptness in partner engagement also saw her play a pivotal role in fostering relationships with entities like the United States Conference of Mayors, Attorneys General Associations, and the African American Mayors Association’s Business Council.

Before her tenure at Microsoft, from 2013-2021, Labriah served as the Northeast Regional Director of Outreach, and subsequently a National Director of Political Outreach, for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Her efforts in these positions involved leading political coalition building and practice at the federal, state and local levels to propel bipartisan policy forward. Her dedication and policy advancement garnered recognition from the New York State Assembly and a Congressional Proclamation from Congressman Charles Rangel.

Labriah’s professional journey began at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, GA, as a Senior Associate specializing in intellectual property. She provided counsel to Fortune 100 companies and nonprofit organizations on patents, trademarks, copyright, social media, and brand protection. She served on the boards for the Black Women’s Health Imperative and as Vice Chair for the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project.  She is a former member of the Anit-Defamation League’s Charles F. Wittenstein Advisory Committee, the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, and Gen 44 Atlanta Finance Committee for the DNC.

David J. Urban

David J. Urban is a Managing Director at BGR Group. He has more than three decades of experience in the military, law, business, politics and public service sectors. David provides strategic advice and counsel to BGR clients throughout the firm.

Prior to joining BGR, David served as Executive Vice President of North American Corporate Affairs for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. In this senior role, he worked alongside the company’s top leadership, helping them navigate public policy and communications challenges, as well as advising on Environmental, Social, and Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility issues.

As President of the American Continental Group (ACG) he provided high stakes counsel to key clients including the CEO of Zoom during the early tumultuous days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the CEO of 7-Eleven to help the company adapt to a rapidly changing regulatory environment. 

Before joining ACG, David served as Chief of Staff to the former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania for five years. In this role, David was the Senator’s senior advisor on all legislative, political, media and administrative matters in Pennsylvania and Washington.

David was appointed by former President Donald Trump to serve as the 11th Chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He was also appointed by the President to the Board of Visitors (Trustees) for the United States Military Academy at West Point.

A graduate of West Point, David served as an artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division where he was awarded the Bronze Star for his service during Operation Desert Storm. He earned a law degree from Temple University and a Master’s in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed an ESG certification program through the Said School of Business at Oxford University and the Stratfor certification program in geopolitical analysis at the Florida Atlantic University. He served as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Government. An active member of the Pennsylvania Bar, David is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.