Julia Sessoms is a Director at The Raben Group where for the past five years she has helped clients reach their policy and advocacy goals through direct lobbying, strategic planning, coalition building, and by developing and implementing effective legislative strategies and public relations issue campaigns.
Ms. Sessoms has a rich background in politics and public policy. She works in the practice groups related to health and education, commerce and financial services, and constitution and justice. Ms. Sessoms has served clients from arenas that include some of the nation’s leading non-profits, foundations, and corporations such as: The Initiative on Financial Security at the Aspen Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Active Living Research, Center for Reproductive Rights, South Asian American Forum (SAAF), Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Vera Institute of Justice, Ariel Investments, the Home Depot, Workplace Flexibility 2010 at Georgetown University Law Center, Sony BMG, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Prior to joining The Raben Group, Ms. Sessoms worked as a legislative aide for Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration, where she was responsible for advising and briefing the Senator on issues related to the Legal Services Corporation, violence against women, and immigration and refugees.
In that role, Ms. Sessoms managed the immigration private relief process for the Subcommittee and advanced and promoted Senator Kennedy’s agenda to secure equal access to justice for all Americans and specifically worked to enact legislation that removes all unjust restrictions on legal service providers. While with Senator Kennedy, she drafted speeches and press releases, assisted with planning and arranging hearings, and strategized on passing and opposing legislation.
Before working for Senator Kennedy, Ms. Sessoms served on the legal and accounting team of the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in Nashville, Tennessee.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Sessoms graduated with a degree in Political Science and Legal Studies from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was a Mellon fellow. Julia is currently pursuing her Masters in Business Administration at the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University.
