Jhamileth Delgado graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University in December 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. As a proud first-generation American, her passion for public service stems from a desire to empower her community and ensure that all voices are heard.

With experience in a non-profit focused on research and advocacy for American seniors, Jhamileth also served in Senator Rick Scott’s Miami district office, where she connected constituents with vital resources and enhanced outreach programs. Her background in a law firm further solidified her understanding of the legal process, allowing her to assist in drafting documents and conducting legal research.

Jhamileth is dedicated to making a positive impact and continues to leverage her knowledge and experiences to support effective policy and advocacy initiatives that uplift those around her.

In her free time, she enjoys watching Formula 1, exploring new restaurants, and finding new recipes to cook, always eager to discover diverse cuisines and culinary traditions.

Roxanna Fields leverages her background in policy and government affairs to support a range of client needs. Originally from Nashville, TN, Roxanna graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs. Prior to joining The Carmen Group, she gained valuable experience at a lobbying firm specializing in tax policy, where she honed her skills in legislative analysis and advocacy.

Roxanna has also worked for a state and local government consulting firm, where she played a role in local election campaigns and navigated land use cases at planning commission meetings. Her passion for public service and understanding of government processes makes her a dedicated advocate for clients.

When she’s not advancing clients’ interests, Roxanna enjoys biking around DC, skiing, and scuba diving.

Henry Carmen graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 2019 with a B.A. in Government and Economics.

During his time at Carmen Group Henry has worked on outreach, research, and strategy for projects across a variety of industries, including Trade, Government Finance and Media.

Prior to joining Carmen Group, Henry completed internships at the Republican National Convention, the Bank of Kigali, and The Washington Redskins.

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David Carmen founded Carmen Group in 1985 and has grown it into the premier bipartisan government affairs consulting firm, serving innovative corporations, non-profit institutions and governments worldwide. He has advised U.S. Presidents, Governors, Mayors and legislators on policy matters where creativity is essential to making government more responsive to an immediate priority.

Carmen has been an innovator in federal disaster relief, assisting New York City in the federal response to 9/11; New Orleans’ Historically Black Colleges after Katrina; companies and institutions following Financial Crises including real estate crash in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the District of Columbia in its fiscal crisis in the mid 1990’s; companies and institutions during the Great Recession and he now advises companies, health care providers and others with their response to COVID-19.

Carmen is known for his expertise in Technology, Media and Telecom legislative and regulatory matters. He served as the chief US advisor on such matters to Masayoshi Son and Softbank. Carmen headed the government affairs team for Softbank’s acquisition of Sprint which was the largest investment of foreign capital into the United States. In addition to assisting with the follow-on merger of Sprint with T-Mobile, he has represented many of the leading edge companies driving 5G/6G and the race towards ubiquitous global connectivity, connected vehicles, robotics, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IOT). In addition to Softbank, Carmen Group has represented OneWeb, Qualcomm, Global Foundries, Airspan and many others in the TMT space.

Carmen has provided expertise in many M&A situations, representing proponents and opponents of mergers before the Department of Justice, Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission as well as Congressional oversight committees.

Working with the White House, Softbank and Sprint, Carmen helped shape a program to provide connectivity to disadvantaged children now called, “The 1 million Project,” which will provide 1 million devices and connectivity to children across America. Carmen also supported Education SuperHighway, the nation’s premier non-profit working with the FCC to provide broadband to schools nationwide.

Operating “at the speed of change,” Carmen Group professionals have assisted with strategic planning and legislative initiatives that have funded tens of billions of dollars in projects across the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

David’s consultative advice has been instrumental in the success of some of the largest public-private real estate and infrastructure developments of the past three decades. The company has advised 30 of the 50 states on the funding of infrastructure improvements including projects as diverse as the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics; the first new rail line in the Midwest in 50 years; the Hoover Dam flyover; Glenwood Pass in Colorado; LA and Napa River projects; Denver and Ft. Lauderdale Airports and many others. Carmen was involved in many of the most difficult issues surrounding the national and local responses to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. The firm’s well-recognized expertise in health care policy has made it a key player for providers, particularly since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Carmen Group’s Education practice advises large university presidents and has developed a long-term record of success serving Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

In real estate, Carmen has represented some of America’s largest and most innovative developers including Related Properties, Vornado, Silverstein Properties, Lerner Properties, Kaufman Jacobs, Trammell Crow, PN Hoffman, Douglas Development and Samitaur Construction. Client projects have transformed sections of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington, DC and elsewhere.

In Energy and Science, Carmen has worked with the Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories on innovative public-private technology transfer initiatives and EDF’s Citelum on Smart City projects around the world.

The rapid, deepening worldwide spread of democracy and transparency has created opportunity and challenges for enterprises, and even governments, to achieve great ambitions. David has brought an innovative vision to government affairs consulting —that effective campaigns must be informed by best practices and business discipline. He was the first principal to recognize that the modern era of disclosure has marginalized the old boy, horse-trading “access” model of advocacy. He staffed Carmen Group with expert bi-partisan professionals that generate superior client results through a rigorous focus on innovation, goals, execution and accountability. His client stewardship approach has elevated the firm’s ability to contribute substantive, long-term, strategic business insight and achieve consistently superior value.

David has a long-time passion for film and has been involved in content creation since his student days. In 1999, he was a founder of Anonymous Content LLC, one of America’s premier content companies. Anonymous has produced many movies including the Academy Award winning, “Spotlight“; “The Revenant,” “Babel,” “Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind,” “Winter’s Bone,” and “Fifty First Dates.” In television, Anonymous produced “True Detectives,” “Mr. Robot,” and “13 Reasons Why.” Anonymous produces many of advertising’s finest commercials and represents many of Hollywood’s major talents. David’s media expertise has made the firm a knowledgeable player in the era of convergence. The company represents content producers and distributors.

Locally, David has been dedicated to the District of Columbia community since the 1990s when the firm helped the city narrowly avoid bankruptcy and begin a resurgence that continues today. Since then, Carmen Group has been the leading government affairs firm in DC for more than two decades, playing a role in virtually every major real estate, health care, education, procurement reform and tax incentive initiative during that time.

David follows a strong government tradition. His father, Gerald, held posts including Ambassador to the United Nations and Administrator of the General Services Administration.

David is a past member of the Young President’s Organization, a former trustee of American University and Sarah Lawrence College and a past director and officer of Community Connections, the largest provider of behavioral health services to those in need in Washington, DC. He is also a past trustee of the National Children’s Museum.

(Updated July 2020)

Dal Harper brings two decades of government relations expertise to Carmen Group serving clients on a wide variety of issue areas and government relations matters. Dal represents clients before Congress, the District of Columbia, and various federal agencies including: the Department of Commerce, the Department of Interior, the Department of Transportation, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Park Service.

As Executive Managing Director, Dal manages teams of non-partisan government affairs professionals to execute legislative and executive branch initiatives. Dal has particular expertise in government leasing, infrastructure authorizations and appropriations, international trade matters, telecommunications, federal grants, procurement, and targeted efforts to ensure projects are approved by federal and local decision makers.

Dal has a strong understanding of the political climate and proven success in helping clients develop their projects to secure federal and local regulatory approvals and legislative accommodations. While lobbying is Carmen Group’s core business, Dal’s clients have increasingly come to expect and require strategic planning and positioning of their interests before government officials.

Dal’s diverse client base includes real estate developers that compete for federal government leases and seek federal infrastructure funding. Dal works with property owners in negotiating with GSA on lease offers and obtaining congressional prospectus approvals. Locally, Dal works with developers to authorize Tax Increment Financing (TIFs), real property tax abatements and other DC Council approvals for important mixed use projects.

In addition, Dal assisted a Fortune 500 telecommunications infrastructure provider in establishing a process to install small cell wireless antennas on city-owned streetlights in the right-of-way. He was also successful in winning a public private partnership to convert streetlights to LED technology and secured local and federal approvals for digital sign displays.

For The Wharf project, a 3 million square foot mixed use development which comprises of 24 acres of land and 50 acres of water on the Potomac River, Dal led the effort to approve a stand-alone Act of Congress (P.L. 112-143) that transferred federal land and property rights to enable the project and secured a $198 million TIF which is the largest TIF package in DC history. Dal worked for over a decade to obtain various local and federal approvals and enhancements for The Wharf.

Dal worked with the House of Representatives and the Senate to approve the first change to the District of Columbia’s Height Act of 1910 (P.L. 113-103).  That change increased overall density in land locked DC without increasing the overall building heights thus expanding the District’s potential tax base by millions of dollars annually.

Dal has helped clients secure multi-million dollar contract awards, hundreds of millions of dollars of funding for highway, transit, flood protection and water resources projects, and drafted and won a $750,000 National Park Service grant for the Washington National Cathedral – the first and only federal dollars in the Cathedral’s history.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in International Economics, Dal completed the University’s Global Studies program and studied in Costa Rica as a Rotary Youth Exchange Scholar. Dal is married, has three children and a dog named Blue.

Carmen Group West

9440 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 301, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

424.354.0133 (Office)

Janet brings a unique skill set to the table with a professional background that intersects Washington DC, Hollywood and Wall Street. She is an Emmy award-winning television news and documentary journalist, former Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at MGM Studios and former President of DC Media Group LA Inc.

Janet specializes in corporate communications, government relations, crisis management and litigation support in a variety of industry sectors. Recognizing the rapid growth in the healthcare sector in Southern California, she has represented healthcare leaders as they continue to work through the Affordable Care Act. In 2011, Janet led global media for her client Heritage Provider Network launching the $3 million Heritage Health Prize Challenge for predictive modeling, the largest in the world. The data mining contest created an online global community of problem solvers charged with developing algorithms to save the country over $40 billion in avoidable hospitalizations. Outside the healthcare industry, clients include entertainment, technology, media, transportation and academia.

As Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications, Janet developed and managed MGM Studios media strategy. Supporting the messaging for its four core businesses, including the 4,000 title, world’s largest film library, she raised MGM’s profile in the nation’s leading business media outlets. She structured the media campaigns for MGM’s major M&A transactions, including the $5 billion acquisition of the company in 2005. Janet’s high-level Congressional and Administration expertise enabled the company to pursue and obtain ART ACT, the successful legislative campaign to protect content. She also directed the media campaign supporting the company’s position in the landmark MGM vs. Grokster case heard in the U.S. Supreme Court. She created a new marketing niche for MGM’s feature film division for such films as “Hotel Rwanda,” “Osama” and “Legally Blonde 2,” generating political and business coverage, bringing added value to the box office and the stock price.

Janet’s career began in Washington DC, with NBC News and ABC News “Nightline.” Subsequently, she worked with CNN in Los Angeles. In addition to her Emmy Awards, her work as a journalist has also been honored with the Champion Tuck Award for outstanding business and economic reporting from the Dartmouth School of Business and a Gracie Award.

Janet has a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California and an M.A. in Communications from American University, Washington D.C. She graduated from the Global Business Leadership and Management Certification Program, Center for International Business Education and Research, Georgetown University Graduate School of Business, Washington, D.C.

She is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, the Alliance for Women in Media and has contributed to “The Huffington Post” and “The Wrap.”

William A. Signer has over thirty years of experience working with the U.S. Congress both as staff legislative counsel and a lobbyist in private practice. For over eight years he served as tax and legislative counsel on the personal staff of Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). He also served on the staff of the Ways and Means’ Health and Oversight Subcommittee which Mr. Rangel chaired. He was previously on the staff of Congressman James H. Scheuer (D-NY), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

In private practice, Bill has specialized in the areas of tax, health care, employment, telecommunications and appropriations. He has represented such diverse clients as hospitals, hospital associations, employment outreach organizations, business associations, manufacturing industry committees and a number of New York-based financial institutions.

Bill is known for tireless advocacy on behalf of his clients. He maintains close ties with members and staff on the House and Senate tax, health, judiciary, telecommunications, and financial institutions committees. His consistent personnel contact not only provides him with the information necessary to determine the most appropriate strategies to accomplish a client’s goal, but also to keep them closely informed of the evolving legislative process.

Bill is recognized for his ability to distill complicated issues down to their essence and to succinctly articulate them in a meaningful way to decision makers. He has been consistently successful in packaging client initiatives so they are seen as being relevant and germane to the Congressional agenda.

Bill believes that in-depth knowledge of issues combined with personal contact with members and their staff is the most successful way to represent his clients. He spends considerable time on Capitol Hill and has developed a reputation as a hands-on-lobbyist, both substantive and politically astute. This approach has worked well for his clients, many of whom have been with him for twenty years. His client’s feel comfortable that when Bill takes on a project, they are getting a committed, resourceful, savvy and persistent advocate.

Gary Hoitsma leads Carmen Group’s Transportation Practice.  He manages a team of professionals to achieve client missions especially on issues related to transportation, infrastructure, energy and the environment.  He brings broad experience in navigating the federal legislative and administrative landscape with regard to such areas as highways, highway safety,  transit, rail, aviation,  public-private partnerships, environmental policy, air quality, alternative fuels, advanced vehicle technologies, infrastructure construction and economic development.

Over the past twelve years, Gary has assisted numerous public and private sector clients in addressing how to access federal funds and how to influence public policy through legislation and regulatory action.  He maintains broad contacts in the Trump Administration, in the White House and federal agencies and on Capitol Hill.  He also works closely with numerous trade associations, business, and other interest groups especially in the transportation, energy and environmental policy arenas.  He is currently heavily involved in discussions and activities related to developments surrounding the emerging Trump Infrastructure plan and how it is likely to be received and refined in Congress.

Having worked extensively on issues related to the development and implementation of numerous surface transportation authorization laws, including SAFETEA-LU, MAP-2, and the FAST Act, he was tasked by one major national business group to help develop bipartisan strategies to address deficiencies in the federal Highway Trust Fund.   For many years, he edited Carmen Group’s highly regarded weekly publication, the Washington Letter on Transportation.   He is the recipient of multiple Carmen Group Practice Excellence Awards.

Gary served eight years as the senior advisor and press secretary to U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), a leading member and former chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.   Gary worked closely with Inhofe to develop and coordinate legislative strategies and communicate clear positions on a wide variety of critical public policy issues.

Previously, Gary also served as a top aide to the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where coordinated public and congressional affairs activities and helped build interest group coalitions for administration transportation policies that included major highway and transit reauthorization bills.

Over the years, he has also worked extensively in Republican politics and campaigns, including serving in senior communications and research positions at the National Republican Senatorial Committee where he assisted U.S. Senate candidates in earned media, advertising and political strategies.  He also worked in senior communications positions at multiple Republican National Conventions while previously serving as media director of the Republican Party of Texas and in a variety of capacities on Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns.   A native of Wayne, New Jersey, Gary holds a Bachelor’s degree from Montclair State College.

Michael Russell oversees all functions of the Finance and Accounting Department.

Prior to joining the firm, he was founder and president of Financial Records Management, a records management consulting firm. Previously, he served as vice president of finance & administration at the Financial Institutional Services Corporation. Earlier, he served as director of administration and comptroller for Citizens for America and its educational foundation.

Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Columbia Union College, Maryland.

Constance Berry Newman brings a unique background to her role as Special Counsel for African Affairs at the Carmen Group. She has served seven different presidential appointments and has extensive experience managing public and private organizations. Her international service includes work in Afghanistan, Liberia, Ukraine, Russia, China and many African countries. Constance has worked to build partnerships between African governments, non-governmental organizations and multi-national corporations in an effort to support African ownership and participation in development initiatives.

From 2004-2005, Constance served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. She acted as President Bush’s G8 personal representative on Africa, played an advisory role to the secretary of state and guided the operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001, she was sworn in as the assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development and lead efforts to administer economic and humanitarian assistance in Africa.

Constance has also served as:

• Board member, International Republican Institute
• Consultant to South African leaders on affirmative action and diversity
• Consultant, World Bank in South Africa
• Consultant of the World Bank for the Government of Lesotho
• Board member and Vice Chair, District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority
• Chair, Personal Search Review Commission, U.S. Customs Service
• Co-founder and Partner, UpStart Partners
• Under Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
• Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• President, Institute for American Business
• Co-founder and President, Newman and Hermanson Company
• Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Commissioner and Vice Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission

Constance was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Tuskegee, Alabama. She graduated from Bates College with a political science degree and earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Joe Weems manages the operational functions of the Finance and Accounting Department.

Prior to joining the Carmen Group, he was Accounting Manager at WETA (Pub. TV. Ch. 26). Earlier he was Senior Staff Accountant for Balducci’s (formerly Sutton Place Gourmet).

Joe has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting, from Towson University’s nationally accredited accounting program (Towson, MD).