A. Mario Castillo, Senior Managing Director
Mario (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amariocastillo) founded Aegis after having served as chief of staff of the Committee on Agriculture of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mario's experiences while serving the Committee have contributed to Aegis' ability to protect, and/or augment, clients' national and global commercial holdings in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, food commodities, retail, travel and tourism.
During his Congressional service, he also served as Staff Co-Director of annual U.S./Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Conferences. Mario participated in negotiations and helped author decrees regarding bilateral political, economic, and social issues (i.e., migration, drug trafficking, environment, and energy) for endorsement by the Mexican and U.S. conference leadership and eventual approval by the U.S. Congress and the White House.
No stranger to complex negotiations, Mario successfully negotiated and established the first intercollegiate agreement between a Czech Republic university and a prominent American university, Texas A&M University. Under the auspices of President Havel, Mario successfully negotiated commercial ventures between American and Czech interests in diverse commercial arenas.
Castillo is a bipartisan lobbyist with an acute ability to design and deploy strategic political and media strategies with government and business representatives. He has been described by a client as the "patron saint of desperate business cases" and a newspaper article reported that he is an individual with "steel resolve . . . tempered with charm."
A few of the client projects undertaken by the Aegis team include preserving a commercial base of duty-free stores along the U.S./Canadian border with a value in excess of $110 million. In another situation with Mario at the helm, Aegis amended an international trade agreement to increase clients' (US/Australian food consortium) market position valued at more than $10 million.
Additionally, he led (on behalf of the State of Texas) negotiations and administered the capital structuring of a $28 million long-term loan to revitalize and modernize a major seaport in Texas. He guided due diligence on loan applications concerning investment structure, development, planning, construction and applicant payback capabilities.
Mario is masterful at directing winning lobbying coalitions with global corporate interests (e.g., Europe, Canada, Australia and within the U.S.) of divergent views to influence legislation and regulations that protect or enhance clients' investments and political agendas
He has served as a Commissioner of the Arts and Humanities for the District of Columbia. Through the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, he developed the Larry Neal/Pen Faulkner Writers Conference for the eastern seaboard, a landmark effort to bring together writers of all races in a working environment. He has served as Chairman of the Friends Council of The National Museum of Women in the Arts of Washington, D.C. And currently, he is a member of the board of directors of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in San Angelo, Texas.
As a leading-edge educator in Texas, Mario was the recipient of the Ford Foundation's "Washington Internships in Education." During the award year, he was the lone Texan to receive the prestigious Ford award. He was named by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as one of the top 25 Hispanic leaders in the United States. And, served as a Congressional delegate to The Ditchley Foundation’s conference in Oxford, England, on International Problems of Supply and Demand in Agriculture.
Mario was appointed at the end of 2004 by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as a board member for the Texas Small Business Industrial Development Corporation (TSBIDC), which was created by the Texas Legislature to provide low cost, long-term financing for Texas corporations and to support infrastructure financing (including job training) to Texas communities. TSBIDC has a multi-million dollar ($80 million+) lending portfolio. In January 2007, Governor Perry named Mario as Chairman and President of the Corporation. Mario served in that capacity until August, 2015.
In December 2007, Governor Perry appointed Mario to the Texas Historical Commission (THC), a 17 member board, for a term of six-years. The THC is the state agency for historic preservation. As a THC Commissioner, Mario and the other Commissioners consult with, and provide guidance, to citizens and organizations in order to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
As a result of his many professional accomplishments and his philanthropic endeavors, Angelo State University, located in San Angelo, Texas, awarded Mario its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Additionally, Mario was a commencement speaker for the Texas Tech University System at Angelo State University.
Alexander Walker, Strategic Government Affairs and Communications Director
Alexander maintains Aegis' office in Austin, Texas. Thus, ensuring that Aegis clients in Texas benefit from Aegis' full range of services and robust political network at all levels of Federal and State government.
In addition to developing and executing government relations strategies for clients, Alexander supports the Aegis Group in conducting legislative and policy research and analysis. By producing detailed, easily digestible reports, Alexander is able to provide clients with the information, analysis, and policy recommendations needed to guide their decisions in ways that benefit and achieve their policy goals and priorities. Alexander also assists with the development and implementation of media campaigns. By increasing stakeholder visibility and forming alliances between policymakers and their constituencies, Alexander monitors and massages clients’ policy goals via legislative initiatives and media outlets.
During his career, Alexander has managed research for public and private sector clients honing his skills in this area. Notably, he managed the research and analysis phases for a family suicide prevention toolkit contracted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on behalf of HHS. While attending Georgetown, he also completed a risk assessment course, which required him to read, synthesize, and analyze mass quantities of data and material, including the integration of key informant interviews, for a report on electoral violence in Afghanistan, which was presented to and published by the State Department.
Before embarking on his career in government relations, Alexander worked as a project manager for 5 years. During this time, he managed projects and relationships, oversaw a number of tight deadlines with multiple workflows and contractors, anticipated issues and effectively partnered with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and perspectives as he devised novel solutions to emerging problems and kept all stakeholders accountable in high stress environments.
Alexander received his Master's in American Government with a focus on government media relations at Georgetown University and his Bachelor's in Government at the University of Texas at Austin (summa cum laude). While at UT, Alexander served as Vice President for Pi Sigma Alpha (the national political science honor society) and was inducted into numerous academic and leadership honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa. His Master’s thesis, titled “Framing Effects on Public Opinion - Comparison of Frames in Traditional and Social Media: A Guide for Strategic Communicators and Academics in the Contemporary Information Environment", analyzed how framing efforts have changed due to the increasing use of social media among the public and presented a list of best practices for strategic communicators in the digital age.
Taylor Velarde, Legislative and Research Assistant
Taylor, in Washington, supports Aegis Group client activities with data analysis and research. Taylor, working closely with Aegis’ CEO Mario Castillo, provides key support services for the firm’s domestic and international clients in the areas of administration, communication, research, public relations and events planning and execution. He also assists in identifying data that serves as beneficial pressure points for the firm’s clients in their interactions with the U.S. Congress and other public policy power pods in and outside of Washington.
Taylor received his BA in International Affairs with a concentration in Security Policy from the George Washington University. While at GWU, he was a recipient of the university’s Presidential Scholarship. Currently, he is a graduate student at Angelo State University pursuing a Masters degree in Security Studies. Taylor holds a TEFL Certificate issued by TTMadrid in Madrid, Spain and was a TEFL certified English teacher during his residency in Madrid.