FUENTES STRATEGIES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Managing Partner
- Our Founder and Managing Partner
Jennice Fuentes, the Founder and Managing Partner of Fuentes Strategies, had a clear vision when she retired from working in Congress after 25 years of service. Over those two and a half decades, Ms. Fuentes often found that advocates and businesses wishing to make their case before Congress were critically unprepared: they did not have clear objectives, rarely followed-up with requested information, and oftentimes missed key opportunities to solidify strategic relationships.
The creation of Fuentes Strategies was driven by Ms. Fuentes' desire to provide effective, personalized services for clients seeking culturally competent strategic guidance and access in Congress, Puerto Rico and beyond. She reached out to her extensive network and chose to partner with highly skilled professionals with proven track records of success. Fuentes Strategies is a bold, fresh, and small firm with a simple goal: cater to a select number of clients and offer them the best service possible in government consulting.
Jennice is the Founder and Managing Partner of Fuentes Strategies, a boutique government relations firm that provides culturally competent strategic guidance and political access in Congress, Puerto Rico and beyond. She is also the Founder and CEO, of BoricuActivatEd, a 501(c)(3)non-profit organization that seeks to empower, educate, and encourage civic engagement across the Puerto Rican Diaspora.
Jennice retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, after 25 years of legislative and political success. She has a demonstrated track record of advancing legislative and political strategies, from inception to legal enactment. As the long-time Chief of Staff for Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jennice served as the Congressman's principal advisor, political strategist and top manager. Jennice advised the Congressman on all issues before the House Financial Services committee, including securities, insurance, banking, housing and the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as well as immigration and community issues. She is a proven strategist on political and legislative issues and has spent her career developing relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, building coalitions with Congressional leaders and motivating Democratic and Republican officials to act on legislation. Jennice began her career in Congress with the Office of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.
, had a very clear vision when she retired after 25 years working in Congress. She wanted to provide the highly personalized service that companies, organizations and individuals need as they engage Congress and stakeholders in the Hispanic Community. Fuentes Strategies creates solutions through close working relationships with decision makers, exceptional strategic vision and proficiency in the legislative process.
Jimena worked for a decade at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C., specializing in international affairs and diplomacy with an emphasis on border disputes, conflict resolution, national security, and terrorism.
Jimena started as an intern and worked her way up and held the positions of Junior Political Officer, Junior Advisor to the Acting Secretary General and Financial Officer & Specialist in the Department of Crisis Prevention and Special Missions. From there, Jimena moved to the Middle East and switched her focus to issues related to sustainability, circular economy, cradle-to cradle design, zero waste, and urban and landscape restoration. She has completed various certifications in such fields and worked as VP of Business Development for a start-up and emerging innovator in the field of Circular Economy, based in Minneapolis.
Jimena joined Fuentes Strategies in 2014 and has held different roles and positions, supporting the firm's work with her advanced skills in research, writing, communications, and negotiations, in both English and Spanish. Jimena completed post-graduate studies in Comparative Political Culture from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. and graduated Cum Laude from Boston University with a double BA in International Relations and Political Science. She is a native of Colombia.
Rocio M. Velez brings over 15 years of experience in international marketing, public speaking, environmental advocacy and business development in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable fuels. Most recently as Assistant General Counsel & Business Development Director for Latin America at Solena Fuels Corporation and SGI, Inc., Rocio was responsible for legal negotiations and contracting stages in all project development of the company's biomass to energy and sustainable fuels projects in the US, Europe and Latin America.
Rocio was also the Associate Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington D.C., where she provided extensive training in areas of procurement and federal compliance, grant writing and economic development and served as a lead legislative liaison to more than 58 municipalities in Puerto Rico and more than 200 non-profit organizations and Hispanic-based community organizations in the north eastern region. Rocio has also served as a corporate sales executive at American Express, Inc. Rocio is an attorney holding a Juris Doctor degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and her B.A. in History and Political Science from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is as an active member of the Bar in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner
- Strategic Partner
Vincent Versage is the founding partner of The National Group, a highly successful Washington lobbying firm that specializes in representation before Congress and the Executive Branch of entities involved in defense, aerospace, federal research and development, energy, transportation/public works, economic development, higher education, tax and trade and health care issues. Vince worked previously as a senior partner at the lobbying firm of Cassidy & Associates, as legislative aide to Senator Spark Matsunaga (D-HI) and Congressman Timothy Wirth (D-CO), and as a campaign aide to Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI).
Throughout his decades-long career as a lobbyist,he has represented major institutions, including Lockheed Martin Corporation, Boeing Corporation, Governor of Hawaii, Mayor of Honolulu, University of Hawaii, Rochester Institute of Technology, National Jewish Medical Center, The American Film Institute, and the California Science Center among many others. He was one of the pioneers of the practice of securing Congressionally earmarked federal funding for nonprofit educational and research and development institutions. Vince provides of-counsel services and works in partnership with Fuentes Strategies on various client issues.