WESTMORELAND160 - Key Persons
Jocelyn Hong is a recognized leader in getting her clients the results they seek at the federal level. With over 20 years of experience as a bipartisan lobbyist, she has successfully pushed through many pieces of standalone legislation for her clients and fought against surprise amendments brought up during the debate of complex bills.
She is the chair of the H Street Group, an informal organization of over 100 Asian American lobbyists. Jocelyn is a founding board member of the Asian American Action Fund, which is dedicated to supporting Asian Americans for elected office.
Jocelyn started her career in Washington, D.C. as staff for Senator John Glenn and a congressman who served on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Recognized by her peers, Jocelyn received the 2021 and 2020 Top Lobbyist Award by The National Institute For Lobbying & Ethics.
Marc has a unique background having worked for both senior Democratic and Republican members of Congress. This has provided him with extensive personal contacts on both sides of the aisle, including current committee staff and senior staff of the majority and minority leadership. In addition, he has significant contacts throughout the executive branch, including senior figures in the White House, Department of Defense, and State Department. He most recently served as chief of staff to a House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee chairman; and not surprisingly, he has significant knowledge of the appropriations process.
Marc has considerable expertise in developing and implementing legislative and appropriations goals and strategies, beginning with the shaping of the legislative strategy that funded the Reagan Administration's insurgency programs. His expertise in this area grew over the next two decades with the forming of legislative strategies to promote and thwart various different legislative initiatives in almost every issue area before Congress. Some examples from the previous year include: successful bipartisan efforts on eminent domain, border security, and increasing defense funding, to name just a few.
Marc has a B.A. with honors from Lafayette College and a M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University. In addition, he was nominated to the prestigious Phi Alpha Theta, National History Honor Society.
Melody Walker joins Westmoreland160 as its Director of Operations. She spent the last decade serving in various capacities while working for advanced engineering and aeronautical manufacturing companies in the defense sector. As a strategic engagements coordinator, she organized events with captains of the industry, distinguished members of Congress, and even the Honorable Mark Esper for classified industry briefings and tours. Prior to this, she served a stint with the State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. Melody is a proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving both stateside and abroad.
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations Manager
Tam Nguyen is a Vietnamese American professional from Maryland. She returned to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area after living in Iwakuni, Japan for three years, as her spouse is an active-duty Naval officer. While in Japan, Tam volunteered over 500 hours for the United Service Organizations (USO) and received the President's Volunteer Service Award for 2021.
Prior to Japan, Tam served as the director of operations at the Twenty-First Century Group, a bipartisan consulting firm led by former Congressman Jack Fields of Houston, TX, for five years. Before then, Tam spent two months working for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. During the 2014 Presidential Management Fellows Program application cycle, she was named a semi-finalist.
In 2011, Tam graduated cum laude with a double major in political science and French studies from Rice University. Two years later, she completed her master of public policy at the University of Maryland at College Park. She speaks French and Vietnamese.
Tom is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel with 20 years of active duty experience. While in the Army, he served in tactical assignments as an aviator, paratrooper, and part of special operations units. His overseas assignments included Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. He served in combat operations with the 82nd Airborne Division in Desert Storm, supported the invasion of Panama, and commanded the aviation unit in disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Hugo. Following Desert Storm, he was selected for service in the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. His final assignment was at the Pentagon as a special operations staff officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.