Policy Wins

Summer is usually considered a slow season in public affairs, but high-performing teams know it's the secret weapon for getting ahead. In this episode, Tommy Zei breaks down how to audit your past session, build lawmaker relationships early, and prep your grassroots advocates so you aren't caught flat-footed when the 2026 midterms hit.

A one-person public affairs team with five hundred engaged advocates isn't a small team. It's a force multiplier.In the final episode of the Small Team, Big Impact series, Tommy Zei brings in fresh research from the Beekeeper Group — a study of over one thousand constituents — to show why lean teams are sitting on more influence than they realize. Learn why waiting until a critical vote to build your advocate base is already too late, how to design campaigns that remove friction and actually drive action, and why the "action" isn't the finish line — it's the starting line.Your advocates are ready. This episode shows you how to ask.For more on the research featured in this episode, check out the Beekeeper Group's Future of Advocacy report.

For small public affairs teams, reporting isn't just about the quarterly deck — it's about making sure leadership never learns something important before you do. In this episode of Policy Wins, Tommy Zei explains how lean teams can build a communication rhythm that keeps executives informed, demonstrates impact continuously, and turns reporting from a dreaded task into a natural byproduct of good workflow. Part of the Small Team, Big Impact series.

We're taking a quick break from our Small Teams, Big Impact series to bring you this one — and trust us, it's worth it.Patrick Kalie, Quorum's senior engagement & event marketing manager, spent time on the ground at two of the Public Affairs Council's biggest events this year: the Advocacy Conference and the National PAC Conference. He talked to a lot of people. He took notes. And now he's sharing what he actually heard.The short version? AI has officially crossed over from "I'm playing around with it" to "this is our number one operational priority." But that's just the beginning.Patrick also gets into why younger employees aren't giving to corporate PACs (and what's actually working to change that), why sending a flood of advocacy emails at the wrong time can backfire, how some teams are using authentic advocate stories way beyond just the "take action" button — and why Gen Z turns out to be surprisingly hyper-local.If you work in government affairs or public affairs, this is the kind of ground-level intel that's hard to come by.

Most public affairs teams know who their power players are: the committee chair, the agency contact, the coalition partner who can actually move things. The real problem is everyone else. The staffers doing the actual drafting. The mid-level regulator who doesn't matter yet. The aligned group you've met twice and never followed up with. Those relationships don't disappear — they accumulate into a quiet liability that surfaces at the worst moment: when you need something from someone you haven't spoken to in a year.In this episode, Tommy Zei lays out a practical framework for getting ahead of that problem. He breaks down how to build a stakeholder map that's actually useful in the field (not just a strategy deck artifact), what interaction tracking is really for — and why most small teams skip the one habit that separates teams with institutional memory from teams that start over every cycle. Plus, how to run outreach that punches above your team's weight without sacrificing the personal touch that makes it land.If your relationship management only kicks in when you need something, this episode is for you.

Most small public affairs teams don't have a tracking problem — they have a prioritization problem. In the kickoff of our "Small Team, Big Impact" series, Quorum onboarding consultant Tommy Zei explains why lean teams often feel buried by alerts and how to fix it by separating passive monitoring from active tracking. Learn how to build a two-tier framework that automates a broad "awareness layer" while keeping your "decision list" focused on the high-stakes bills and rulemakings that actually require action this week.Beyond official filings, Tommy breaks down how to "track the conversation" by spotting policy shifts in social media, newsletters, and committee hearings before they become headlines. Discover the three essential questions your team needs to answer to stop the manual triage and build a system that works for you, not the other way around. It’s about doing more with less by ensuring your human judgment is spent on strategy, not just skimming data.

Your leadership doesn't want a link to 500 bills. They want to know what it means and what to do about it. Yet most public affairs teams spend the majority of their time gathering data and almost none of it communicating why it matters.In the final episode of this six-part series, onboarding consultant Tommy Zei breaks down how to turn your tracking, tagging, and monitoring into executive-ready reports that actually prove your impact. Learn why static spreadsheets are killing your credibility, how visual dashboards can tell the story of your work in five seconds, and the "Rule of Four" framework every strong brief should follow. Whether you're building it manually or with AI, if your reports feel like data dumps, this episode is for you.

If you only track official bills, you’re missing the "why" and "when" of policy. In this episode, Tommy Zei explores "upstream" monitoring — tracking the press releases, caucuses, and social media posts where the early warning signs actually live. Learn how to conduct a "digital audit" on new committee faces and why silence from a veteran legislator is often a strategic signal you can’t afford to ignore.

Your value to your organization isn't your ability to skim thousands of bills. It's your judgment about what those bills mean. So why are you still spending all your time on the first pass?In this episode, Tommy Zei breaks down how to automate your policy review process without losing the human judgment that makes your work valuable. Learn how AI-powered bill summaries can be filtered through your specific policy priorities, why knowing what you don't care about is just as important as knowing what you do, and how proximity-based search tools can cut your bill review time in half. Whether you're using the latest AI tools or a manual process, this episode will change how you approach the first pass.

Every session, someone is frantically digging through old emails trying to prove they worked a bill. Don't be that person. In this episode, onboarding consultant Tommy Zei breaks down why issue management isn't just an admin task — it's the foundation of your entire legislative strategy. Learn how to build a clean, reportable issue map with 5–10 primary pillars, why multi-tagging creates a paper trail of influence, and how the habits you build today will make your end-of-session report practically write itself. If your issue list is a graveyard of last session's priorities, this one's for you.

More information doesn't always lead to better decisions — often, it just creates more noise. In this episode of Policy Wins, Tommy Zei explains why the real job of public affairs isn't passing along updates, but translating complex signals into decision-ready insight.Learn the three "buckets" every signal should fall into , the single question that prevents internal bottlenecks , and how to use AI to compress complexity without replacing the human judgment required to win. If your team is great at tracking issues but struggles to move to action, this episode is your guide to moving at the speed the moment demands.

Most public affairs teams don’t lose because they lack information — they lose because they’re drowning in noise. In this episode of Policy Wins, Tommy Zei explains why "early warning" isn’t about how fast you get an alert, but how much lead time you have to make a decision. Learn how to separate broad awareness from your "decision list" and why the most important data point in Washington is often what isn't being said.

In this episode of Policy Wins, host Patrick Kalie sits down with Micaela Isler, President & CEO of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC), to explore how she led the organization through a pivotal transformation. Micaela took NABPAC from quiet industry convener to outspoken advocate for the role of business PACs in American politics. She shares how she repositioned NABPAC during the height of the “No Corporate PAC” movement, aligning its board and members around a bold new mission to defend and promote transparent, bipartisan political engagement.Together, Patrick and Micaela dive into the technical but consequential world of campaign finance — from the push to repeal outdated prior approval rules that stifle engagement, to the case for indexing PAC contribution limits for inflation. Micaela also offers perspective on what the next generation of PAC professionals needs to know: that relationships, trust, and openness to opportunity remain the true currency of influence in Washington. It’s a revealing look inside the modern business of political advocacy. Follow Quorum: LinkedIn → @quorum-analytics-incX → @quorumanalyticsFollow Patrick Kalie:LinkedIn →linkedin.com/in/patrick-kalieThis episode was produced by QuorumEditing by Mollie BeckerVisual Design by Marcela ScarpelliSpecial thanks to Micaela Isler and the National Association of Business Political Action Committees

In the premiere of Policy Wins, host Patrick Kalie sits down with Sean Kennedy, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at the National Restaurant Association, to unpack one of the most significant grassroots victories of the past year: defeating a Massachusetts ballot measure to eliminate the tip credit. Sean walks us through how his team activated servers and restaurant operators across the state, coordinated a unified message, and achieved a 64–36% victory — all in one of the most progressive states in the country.But this episode is about more than just one campaign. Sean reflects on how public affairs has evolved since the ‘90s, why trust and authenticity matter more than ever, and how his team has built an enduring grassroots program that ensures every member of Congress has a direct line to someone in the restaurant industry. Plus, you’ll hear the surprisingly effective advocacy tactic involving orange frisbees — and why Sean never forgot it.Follow Quorum:LinkedIn → @quorum-analytics-inc- X → @quorumanalyticsFollow Patrick Kalie:LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/patrick-kalieThis episode was produced by QuorumEditing by Mollie BeckerVisual Design  by Marcela ScarpelliSpecial thanks to Sean Kennedy and the National Restaurant Association

Policy Wins is a show about how real change happens in government affairs. Hosted by Quorum, each episode pulls back the curtain on the strategies, relationships, and decisions driving policy outcomes across the country.You’ll hear candid conversations with leaders from advocacy organizations, trade associations, PACs, and policy teams who are doing the work — building coalitions, influencing legislation, and shaping public opinion.We go beyond talking points to explore what actually works, what doesn’t, and how success is measured in today’s policymaking environment.If you’re a public affairs professional trying to move the needle, this show helps you learn from the wins that made it possible.