Emmer Consulting and The Goodfriend Group Form "I Street Advocates,"Expand Labor Union Expertise with addition of Brian Young
Emmer Consulting, Inc., a health care lobbying firm, and The Goodfriend Group, which lobbies on behalf of media, technology, telecommunications, and labor organizations, announced the relaunching of their practices as “I Street Advocates,” and the addition of longtime labor and consumer advocate, Brian Young, to the team.
“For over two decades, we have represented clients who care about improving the lives of consumers, workers, innovators, patients, and caregivers,” said Susan Emmer, a former Senate committee and Department of Health and Human Services staffer who founded Emmer Consulting in 1999.
“I Street Advocates” derives its name from the firm’s office location in Northeast Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the U.S. Senate office buildings, the Federal Communications Commission, and other decision-making locations. Like the firm for which it is named, I Street is lesser known than K Street, but offers an alternative, faster route to the Capitol.
David Goodfriend, a former Clinton White House, Federal Communications Commission, U.S. House and Senate committee staffer, celebrated the addition of Brian Young to I Street Advocates. “Brian Young led the political and legislative efforts of the American Postal Workers Union through a historic postal reform victory,” said Goodfriend. “In addition to his wide network of relationships and strategic acumen, Brian’s addition to our team as Vice President underscores our commitment to labor, and fits with our representation of independent and minority-owned media, consumer groups, and innovative competitors in communications and technology.”
While at APWU, Young led efforts to pass the landmark Postal Service Reform Act, and successfully fought for the inclusion of electric vehicle funding for USPS’ new fleet in the Inflation Reduction Act. Prior to joining APWU, Brian was a consumer advocate for the National Consumers League, where he fought for robust consumer protections in the finance, banking, transportation, and technology spaces. He also built a coalition of state activists, which won passage of a model bill to protect consumers from deceptive automatically-renewing contracts in the District of Columbia.
Young joins fellow Vice President, Brian Hess, widely known for his leadership on behalf of firm client, Sports Fans Coalition, to pass sports betting consumer protection and ticketing consumer protection laws in multiple states, and to enact the federal Equal Pay for Team USA Act to improve the treatment of U.S. women Olympians.
