About Us

Public Policy Partners is a full-scale lobbying and public policy firm in Maryland, recognized for the excellence for our client service. We help our clients reach their goals through active participation in the public policy process. Our partnerships with our clients are highly successful because:

• Our blend of services is unique. Lobbying is most successful when it is based on sound public policy. As lobbyists and public policy experts with experience in the public and private sectors, we help our clients use the public policy process as a bridge to lobbying success.
• Our working relationships with key officials are unusually strong. The partners of our firm have collectively over 50 years of experience working in state policy circles. Our work has always been of the highest quality, giving us an elevated level of credibility when working with members of the Maryland General Assembly and Executive Branch.
• Our award-winning advocacy training program can teach you to navigate the complexity of policy development and help you become a more effective advocate.
   

Our Staff

We are committed to providing the highest quality of services to our clients. We have built our firm on the strengths of our members as individuals as well as on our strength as a team:
 

Ann T. Ciekot, Partner

Ann has over 20 years of experience in lobbying in Maryland. She is widely regarded as a public policy expert on alcohol and drug addiction treatment and recovery, social services, and civil rights issues. Prior to the formation of Public Policy Partners (formerly known as Ciekot & Elliott), she was half the team of Binderman & Ciekot, which provided government relations services for almost six years. She also has significant experience in managing and advocating for nonprofit organizations, including the Maryland Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Action for the Homeless, and Center for Poverty Solutions.

 

Robyn S. Elliott, Partner

Robyn has over 15 years of experience in legislation, the state budget process, and health care finance. She is an expert in navigating the legislative and state budget process on complex policy and financial issues. She has particular expertise in health care reimbursement, health insurance, health occupations, and disabilities issues. Prior to Public Policy Partners, she was the Director of Governmental Affairs at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She also was a senior policy analyst with the Maryland General Assembly under the Department of Legislative Services. Her health care finance experience includes being a senior financial analyst at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She has a Master’s in Health Care Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

 

Michele Douglas, Partner

Michele has over 20 years of experience in lobbying, policy analysis, regulations, grassroots development and coalition building. She is one of the leading voices on aging and disabilities issues in state policy circles. Prior to Public Policy Partners, she was State Policy Director for the Maryland Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Chair of the Maryland Senior Citizens Action Network. She also spent significant time working with nonprofit advocacy organizations and in State government, including the state AIDS Administration, the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Planned Parenthood of Maryland.

 

Rachael Faulkner, Partner

Rachael has a dozen years of experience in public and private sector policy and legislative work. Her areas of expertise include policy and regulatory developments in behavioral health, disabilities and education. Rachael’s accomplishments include staffing the statutory and regulatory changes in the process of behavioral health integration at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, staffing the Governor’s Interagency Transition Council for Youth with Disabilities at the Department of Disabilities, and working in collaboration to implement a school mental health grant at the Mental Health Association of Maryland. She has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland with a specialization in Social Action and Community Development.