About Us

Most public policy problems are resolved or endure based on whose voice is the loudest and who has the greatest access to the microphone. Yet, many public policy debates fail to include the voices of the very people most impacted.

Stono Public Affairs is unique. Our strategy of sustained engagement can win debates not just by crafting the right message but by expanding who is listening. The consistency and authenticity of our advocacy has created a trusted network that can effectively communicate motivating messages outside of the usual beltway staples and around any number of issues.

Stono Public Affairs is uniquely positioned to provide traditional state and federal government relations work as well as culturally relevant issue advocacy that builds trusts and lasting relationships in communities where no relationship currently exists. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion allows us to identify mutually beneficial alliances which may not be apparent at first glance or available through other firms.

Principals

Stono Public Affairs’ recognized and experienced leaders are uniquely positioned to provide traditional government relations as well as culturally relevant issue advocacy that builds trust and lasting relationships across communities.

James Gee

Founding Principal

James Gee has spent his entire life in service to the public. His work building the Democratic Party to register voters, designing and implementing strategies to reach and proactively engage previously disenfranchised voters extends from the most local levels of government directly into the halls of Congress and the West Wing. James is as comfortable on Trenton’s East State Street registering voters one by one as he is on Capitol Hill organizing a conference on Black Women and Girls Issues with 5,000 attendees. Whether he is working on a city council race or flying on Sean Combs’ private jet drafting speeches and messaging for the Citizen Change “Vote or Die” campaign, James Gee has always been on the frontline fighting for democratic values.

James has worked on countless state, local and federal races across the country and, in New Jersey alone, he was a Deputy Chief of Staff in the McGreevey Administration and served as a senior adviser to the Corzine for Governor, Booker for Senate and Murphy for Governor campaigns. Besides his lovely wife, Farrah, and his two beautiful children, Asa and Ella, James is most proud of his work as the architect behind Bonnie Watson Coleman’s historic campaign to become New Jersey’s first Black woman to serve in Congress. From the outset of Watson Coleman campaign’s kickoff, the candidate was pegged as a significant underdog by state-wide and national “experts”. Immediately after winning, James began working with the Congresswoman to dramatically increase her profile and create opportunities for her to lend her voice to critical issues. Usually, first term members of Congress are labelled “back benchers” with no real influence, but James and Rep. Watson Coleman created the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls and the Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide to draw attention to overlooked issues in the community and amplify the Congresswoman’s voice on radio and television while attracting celebrities like Taraji P. Henson to further raise issue visibility.

James Gee is known, and respected, for creating outside-the-box opportunities for his clients and his advocacy of important issues, even as he elevates those around him and integrates the latest technology and most innovative data collection and communications to remain ahead of the curve. James is as comfortable speaking with those who occupy the circles of power in Washington and celebrities known throughout the world as he is speaking with your neighbor. More importantly, he has a long history of proving he can motivate them all equally.

Jay Redd

Managing Principal

Jason (Jay) Redd has a wealth of strategic public affairs experience and is well versed on a range of policy issues targeting political, governmental, and legal affairs. Having spent the past decade serving in roles at the highest levels of New Jersey government and lobbying on behalf of a broad client base, he possesses a unique combination of internal knowledge and external experience that is critical to the successful management of a challenging roster of clients, from former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to the Reform Alliance. He has provided strategic guidance to multinational life-science companies and innovative social-enterprising nonprofits. To quote one of his colleagues, “He is on a first-name basis with the movers and shakers of New Jersey—people answer his call.”

Jay believes in the value of connection, focusing on impactful results while leveraging his charismatic and energetic networking skills. His longstanding relationships within government, insights into the legislative and executive processes, and deep understanding of the regulatory issues faced by businesses in the current economy enhance the services he provides.

Jay has been widely recognized for his notable achievements in government affairs. He was a 2016 recipient of The Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty Achievement Award and has been named to the New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars and New Jersey Law Journal “New Leaders of the Bar”lists. In 2014, Jay was honored with a Young Alum Award by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, where he served as an adjunct professor of public policy and is on the Public Policy Dean’s Advisory Board. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University Law School where he teaches lobbying and advocacy and is on the Alumni Board at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.

Jay is also involved extensively in pro bono work and community service, including work on domestic violence and mental illness, and is a former president of the Trenton Board of Education.

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