NAPA’s Jackson named a leading lobbyist of 2020

Ashley Jackson, senior director of government affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association, has been honored by Association Trends as a 2020 Leading Lobbyist. Jackson will be recognized at the 41st Annual Salute to Association Excellence awards luncheon on March 20, 2020 in Washington, DC.

“Ashley has done an excellent job in this role, she understands the legislative issues NAPA faces and has cultivated a strong network on the Hill to ensure the interests of our members are considered and protected,” said Audrey Copeland, NAPA President and CEO. “All of us at NAPA are proud of her and congratulate her for this well-deserved honor.”

The Association Trends Salute to Excellence honors “the brightest stars of the association community and their commitment to excellence,” according to its organizers. For 2020, four lobbyists were recognized as outstanding association executives who help to accomplish their organization’s advocacy and grassroots initiatives.

“On behalf of the NAPA membership and staff, I congratulate Ashley on this impressive distinction,” said Jay Lemon, president of Haskell Lemon Construction Co. and Chairman of the NAPA Legislative Committee. “It is crucial that our industry has someone with her skill set and drive fighting for us in Washington to respectfully create relationships, ward off pavement design mandates and to ensure that federal funding for highway construction and asphalt pavement research is secured.”

Jackson, who joined NAPA in 2015, led a recent effort to secure $3 million for the asphalt airfield pavement research program as part of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization and the recently passed fy2020 transportation appropriations bill. As NAPA’s point person in day-to-day lobbying on Capitol Hill, she focuses on surface transportation and aviation authorizations, as well as annual appropriations bills and other legislative actions relevant to the industry.

Specifically, Jackson has worked on highway funding, asphalt research and pavement-type selection issues with legislative staffers and members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies.

In addition to managing day-to-day activities of the NAPA Political Action Committee, Jackson leads the planning and execution of the annual Transportation Construction Coalition Legislative Fly-In, which brings to Washington more than 400 highway contractors each Spring to discuss with lawmakers issues affecting highway and airport infrastructure funding.

Jackson serves on the TRIP Board of Directors, the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition Management Committee, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation and Logistics Committee. She is also co-chair of the Women in Government Relations Transportation & Infrastructure Task Force. She is an active member of the Road Gang, a D.C. networking group for industry, government, media and trade association officials involved with highway transportation issues, and Jackson is poised to become chair of the Road Gang in 2023.

Jackson earned her B.S. in Legal Studies and an MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She resides in Upper Marlboro, MD, with her three children and husband.