The From the Lobby podcast features a behind-the-scenes look at politics and government from New York State to Washington, DC with Jack O’Donnell, an Albany insider and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a top lobbying firm that helps clients all over the country cut through government red tape.
Don’t be stuck on the sidelines. Get a front-row seat to what’s happening in politics with Jack! From the issues that affect taxpayers and business owners to the history of the budget process in New York, Jack has the knowledge and depth of experience to cut through the rhetoric and tell you what’s really going on.
Summary of this Episode
Guests
- Alexandre Burgos: community leader and member of the Erie County Democratic committee
- Alec Lewis: Vice President and Director of Campaigns at O’Donnell and Associates
- Joanne Pasceri: Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates
Major Topics Covered
• Alex Burgos, a Buffalo community leader and Erie County Democratic Committee member, discusses his background in community organizing and advocacy.
• Burgos highlights the importance of community engagement in politics and shares his experiences as a Hispanic LGBTQ advocate.
• The episode covers Burgos’ work in campaign design and photography, including a successful collaboration on Moe Brown’s campaign.
• National Hispanic Heritage Month is discussed, with Burgos emphasizing the need for celebration, learning, and allyship year-round.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri 00:05
Hi everyone, we’re back from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell, a podcast that takes a deep dive into politics with Jack, Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a Top New York lobbying firm that helps clients cut through red tape and reach their goals. I’m Joanna Pasceri, Director of Communications. We are continuing our series profiling New York’s community leaders. And at the mic for Jack is our Alec Louis, Vice President and Director of campaigns. Before coming to the firm Alex spent a decade with New York Senate Democrats and as a key player on campaigns that led to consecutive super majorities in the Senate. Alec has a special guest, Alex Burgos, a community leader and member of the Erie County Democratic committee, Alec is going to talk to Alex about his work in the community, the importance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, and the creative process of working to tell the stories of candidates. Hi, Alec and Alex, and welcome to the podcast.
Alex Burgos 01:11
Hi, Joanna, thank you for having me.
Alec Lewis 01:14
Hi, Joanna. It’s great to be on with you. And of course, it’s great to have our friend Alex Burgos on the podcast, who we’ve been meaning to have for quite a while to talk about his amazing story. Now, Alex, you were born and raised in Buffalo. You’re also a graduate of SUNY Empire State College School of Psychology. Very active role as a committee member. And you do a lot more than simply carry petitions during petitioning season. And what does it mean for you in the standpoint of actual community engagement?
Alex Burgos 01:44
Well, I think, you know, community engagement, politics, you know, campaigns, they all work hand in hand, right? They’re different sides of the same coin. And there are some things in politics and never go out of style. And continuing to show up for your community, I think is the number one asset that anybody can bring to the table. But that’s something that I’ve always done. And a lot of people very recently have known me from the committee or have met me through political work. But I, for a long time, was a community organizer and got involved in a lot of events, even from when I was 10 years old, on the west side of Buffalo. So the community organizing PC engagement piece, that’s something I’ve done, back when I was working in health education, when I was working in event building, when I was working youth mentorship. And a lot of the problems that I saw, not only in my community, but also within the system that I was trying to work in to serve my community kind of translated into me kind of jumping the gun and deciding to get a little bit more involved, learning more about the process carrying petitions running for committee. So the trajectory and the formulative piece of my career that spans many, many years, I think is a piece a lot of people don’t know about me, but definitely plays hand in hand in what I’m doing now.
Alec Lewis 03:16
And you continue to do a lot in the Buffalo community. And you’ve shown incredible leadership through being an LGBTQ advocate, and you’ve made it your life’s mission, to speak up for vulnerable communities. It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15. Through October 15. When you think of your identity as a young Hispanic member of Buffalo’s LGBTQ community, what does that mean for you?
Alex Burgos 03:43
You know, there are so many aspects of it that are so rewarding, right? When you are able to champion for people, whether you get them connected to care, whether you get them connected to different services, whether you create events where people can be themselves, whether you’re bringing people to the legislative process, people who never imagined that they had a place in the process, but whose voices are so, so needed and important. Those are some of the most rewarding aspects of being a member of both communities, I think and as someone that does work within both communities, but there’s also a lot of hardship, there’s a lot of hard moments, you know, when you’re addressing the way that things have always been right versus right, versus what we’ve just gotten used to. And I think in many instances, I’ve been a first in both spaces, whether that be LGBT spaces entering as a Hispanic man that has broken a lot of different barriers, or being a member of the LGBT community within the Hispanic community that has broken a lot of barriers and has garnered a lot of visibility. But what I think every glass ceiling that I break reminds me of (is) the point in time when I didn’t have the ability to infiltrate those spaces at all. And it’s always a humbling moment and really serves as a reminder that whenever you get through a door, it’s so important to bring other people with you.
Alec Lewis 05:15
Absolutely. And so Alex, I want to ask you now, you have done some incredible work as a designer as a photography through various types of campaign pieces for a lot of candidates in Western New York, and specifically in Buffalo. And you actually worked with me to develop mailpieces for Moe Brown, and for us who successfully won his Democratic Mary for Onondaga County Legislature with 64% of the vote. We met with him, we talked about his story. So you could be, so collectively we, as a team could be better storytellers. Can you talk about our collaboration, specifically, in the benefits you’ve seen, of how we here at O’Donnell and Associates are approaching the creative process of actually telling good stories through effective campaigns and advocacy?
Alex Burgos 06:03
Yeah, so, you know, I think really, a lot of it is that relationship building with the candidate, right to get the essence and the story of the campaign. And having that translated into the branding or the messaging, right. And so how it started was, you know, we made that connection, we had the initial phone call with Moe, we got to know him, you know, he’s great, I consider him a friend. And from there from hearing his life story, from learning about his work from learning about his advocacy, that informed, right, the ways in which that could be conveyed through the branding, right. So when, you know, when I was designing the mail piece for him, those are all things that kept in mind, right, when it came to the wording that was on the mailpiece, when it came to the fonts that we chose when it came to the color scheme, when it came to the photos that we had selected and the ways that we had laid them out. Those are all things that are crucial to ultimately turning someone who is just who just sees a mail piece into an actual voter. Right. So that conversion piece, the mail creates the awareness, right, seeing his messaging creates the awareness, but the strength of that messaging, that’s what gives someone the conviction to go and vote. So with any candidate, there has to be a strong marketing piece, there has to be an investment in it, whether you’re working at a very local level, you know, whether you’re running for school board, city council, all the way to whether you’re running for president, everybody needs a marketing person, everybody needs, their messaging, their story, their personality to shine through. So that was a little bit about the process with Moe. But I always tell people, don’t cut corners on your marketing, especially if you’re running.
Alec Lewis 08:00
100%. And so Alex, I just want to thank you for being part of the amazing team that we’re continuing to build here at O’Donnell and Associates, the creative culture that we’re working to build, and most importantly, helps our candidates with amazing stories to tell their stories well, and I’ll hand it off to Joanna to close out our program.
Joanna Pasceri 08:20
Great having you know, I just have one quick question. What do you hope, you know, in this national Hispanic Heritage Month, the What issues do you think are critical that you hope get out there this next few weeks?
Alex Burgos 08:32
Yeah. So, you know, I, the message that I would give to people is that we’ve always been here. We are part of the fabric, not just locally in Western New York, but the whole country and ultimately, the whole world. We are an important part of the human race. And take a moment to celebrate, to join us in our in our many events that we have. But also take a moment to learn. You know, ask folks how you can be a better ally or what it is that you can learn, offer them resources, offer them connections, offer them support, because ultimately, hispanic heritage month for me is year round, because I’m fighting for my community around. But I hope that folks can see the work that is that we’re doing during this month. And you know, find their place within it.
Joanna Pasceri 09:23
Thank you so much, Alex, and we appreciate you coming on from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell to share your diverse perspective and the creative culture that supports winning campaigns and advocacy efforts here at O’Donnell and Associates. Stay on the inside track with us. Be sure to sign up for our Monday morning memo, Jack’s weekly newsletter on what’s really happening in politics. Get it sent right to your inbox. Subscribe on our website at odonnellsolutions.com. That’s odonnellsolutions.com. And for daily updates follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn threads and Instagram at O’Donnell and Associates. Thanks for listening everyone. We’ll be back from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
