Daniel Sheehan Email & Phone Number

Washington, D.C.

AFOP’s mission is to improve the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families by advocating for the member organizations that serve them. AFOP’s 52 non-profit and public agencies provide access to training and supportive services to help farmworkers create better futures. Utilizing the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), member organizations help educate and train farmworkers for jobs that allow them to earn an income to sustain themselves and their families. Competitively awarded and fiscally responsible, the NFJP is the most successful job-training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. AFOP’s member agencies consistently place over 80 percent of their farmworker job-training customers into good jobs with benefits.NFJP is desperately needed to reach some of the most vulnerable and difficult-to-reach in society. The people who prepare and harvest America’s crops face a number of challenges in their quest to support their families and help their children secure a part of the American Dream. Many of the 2.5 million farmworkers migrate back and forth from various parts of the southern states and California to northern areas of the country, following the crops in order to put together enough workdays to sustain themselves and their families. In addition, most farmworkers face barriers that typical job seekers do not have to overcome. Many speak a language other than English as their main form of communication. Furthermore, most farmworkers do not have a high school diploma and possess reading and math skills far below those needed to adequately compete for better-paying employment.AFOP has been an advocate for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States since 1971. The thread that binds the Association is the concept that training and education can provide the launching pad to a better and more stable life for the workers who plant, tend, and harvest the crops that Americans consume at their tables.

Washington, D.C.

- Provided federal representational services to clients, interacting with elected and administration officials, and staff at the very highest levels of the federal government.- Counseled clients on strategies to attain their public policy goals.- Secured real results that bring real benefits to clients.- Worked with FundBook Consulting to offer affordable and effective government relations services to local governments.

- Represented local governments and associations before Congress and federal agencies in pursuit of programmatic, policy, and funding priorities. - Provided the full range of advocacy services for clients, including the direct lobbying of Congress and federal agencies; continuous communication and strategic counsel on legislative and regulatory challenges; writing of all necessary testimony, letters and briefs; and the active involvement in trade association and other ad hoc group work to champion client interests, including the American Public Transportation Association, New Starts Working Group, the Washington Area Transit Industry Representatives group, and the Water Resources Coalition.- Clients included fifteen municipalities and counties, as well as the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association; North Carolina Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association; and Brunswick (North Carolina) Beaches Consortium. - Served as the firm’s expert on issues concerning the United States Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35B) and the Congressional Depot Caucus, the United States Air Force KC-X refueling tanker aircraft, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration, United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Economic Development Administration, United States Department of Justice, and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and focused on client priorities involving United States Army Corps of Engineers policy, projects and procedures. - Advised the company's political action committee to better direct committee support.

- Advocated client interests at the highest levels of Congress and the Executive Branch. - Designed and implemented strategies to achieve client goals, with a particular emphasis on transportation and infrastructure authorizations and appropriations. Clients included Dallas Area Rapid Transit; Orlando International Airport; Gila County, Arizona; Daytona Beach International Airport; Volusia County, Florida; and City of Visalia, California.- Worked in a joint venture with lobbying firm Strategic Health Care (2007-2008) to help secure for 22 hospital clients $7.8 million in Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations. Completed project descriptions, justifications and congressional request documentation, and lobbied Congress with clients in support of project requests. - Monitored all aspects of the legislative and regulatory processes and counseled clients on appropriate actions.- Drafted legislative language, supporting documents and hearing testimony for members of Congress, congressional committees and private-sector coalitions seeking to influence Congress.- Targeted new business opportunities through forward-thinking analysis, comprehensive proposals and compelling presentations.

- Counseled Senator Robb on legislative issues concerning appropriations, taxation, budget, and banking. Responsibilities included analyzing legislative and policy questions, advising the senator of findings and making recommendations on votes and position determinations.- Drafted the senator’s legislative initiatives, developed strategies to win their passage and pursued those strategies through negotiations with other senators, staff and interested parties.- Wrote hearing testimony, speeches and floor statements for the senator.- Informed key constituencies of legislative and regulatory developments.

- Prepared hearings for Chairman Norman Sisisky on several topics, including IRS tax regulations governing independent contractors, Kuwait reconstruction, U.S. Export-Import Bank small business programs, and business opportunities in the former Soviet Union. Responsibilities involved investigating issues, writing opening statements and witness testimony, selecting witnesses, briefing subcommittee members, and focusing hearing discussions through questions prepared for subcommittee members.- Wrote speeches and press releases for the chairman.- Conducted media relations on numerous subcommittee issues.- Drafted legislation for introduction by the chairman.

- Advised Congressman Sisisky on several legislative issues, including appropriations, transportation, the environment, energy and commerce, science and technology, banking, and foreign affairs.- Participated in legislative strategy sessions with members of Congress and high-level staff.- Wrote speeches and floor statements for the congressman.- Handled special projects affecting the congressman’s district.