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Marcia Lee Taylor (GPPI ‘97)

Vice President and Director of Government Relations, The Partnership for Drug-Free America

1. Describe your current position and what led you to your job?

I left Capitol Hill about two years ago after working as a staffer there for 11 years. I am now the director of government relations for a national non-profit, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. In my previous position as the senior drug policy advisor on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, I had worked closely with the Partnership on a number of drug prevention efforts and was always impressed by the organization. When I was ready to leave Capitol Hill, moving to the Partnership felt like a seamless transition. I still work on many of the same policy issues, but I now have the opportunity to engage different Members of Congress and federal agencies on these matters in a new way. I’m also fortunate to have the ability to help shape the direction in which the Partnership is moving, both in Washington and nationally.

2. What has been the most rewarding moment in your career?

One of the most important pieces of legislation that I worked on while I was a staffer on Capitol Hill was the Drug Addiction Treatment Act. The bill amended a long-standing statute, the Narcotic Addicts Treatment Act, to allow qualified doctors to prescribe certain new anti-addiction medications to patients in their offices rather than requiring the patients to go to specialized clinics to be treated. The idea was to increase access to treatment with these new medications as well as to help move drug treatment into the mainstream of medical practice.

The bill negotiations were extraordinarily tense and prolonged; it was difficult to get the numerous federal agencies that regulated the current system to change the way they were doing business and see the potential benefit of this new approach. But after much debate and political maneuvering, the bill was passed and signed into law in 2000. About a year later, I woke up one morning to a story on the radio about a man who had been treated by one of the doctors in the new system. He said that his prior attempts at treatment had failed and he was so grateful that he could get the medicine he needed from his own doctor. He said that he was clean and sober and the treatment he got had changed his life and helped him reunite with his family. I was so proud to have been a small part of helping this man and was thrilled to have had the good fortune to hear him tell his story to a reporter that morning.

3. What is the best career advice you have received?

Someone once told me that your reputation and your credibility are everything in Washington. I’m glad I listened. In politics, you can move from being in the majority party to the minority party in a heart beat. It is always a good rule to treat others as you would want to be treated and to be an honest broker. I think it is good advice for any profession.

4. What would you recommend to someone interested in working in your field?

For someone interested in working in government relations, I would recommend that they spend some time working on Capitol Hill and to be conscious about making friends on both sides of the political aisle. Most things get done on a bipartisan basis so it is critical to be able to work with the other party.

I would also stress the importance of history. If you don’t understand how a policy problem developed, it is difficult to try to fix it in a meaningful way. It also helps to pick a handful of issues and become an expert on them rather than trying to master all of them.

5. What challenges have you faced and how did you successfully manage one situation?

For most of my 11 years on Capitol Hill, I worked for the minority party. I learned the art of compromise out of necessity. Most of the challenges I faced came in bill negotiations where I had to weigh what changes I could live with and what changes were deal-breakers. The decisions were rarely black and white. One such instance involved anabolic steroid control legislation. There were some very complicated disagreements about how the Controlled Substances Act should be changed and how far Congress should go in certain areas. At the end of the day, the bill became law. I suppose that I managed the situation by being stubborn and unwilling to let the legislation fail as well as making sure that I was well versed in the facts.

6. What skills are necessary or what prepared you the most for your career?

The skills that I believe are most important are the ability to write succinctly, creativity to solve problems, good interpersonal skills and a knack for negotiation.

7. What professional associations have aided in your professional development?

There has not been a formal professional association that has helped me but there have been numerous informal ones. Most important has been the alumni networks at Georgetown and Holy Cross, where I did my undergraduate work. Second to that have been former coworkers, particularly the ones that I worked with at the beginning of my career.