Kevin Graff

Kevin Graff

Principal and Founder

Kevin Graff founded Graff Public Solutions, LLC (GPS) in 2011, and has led the firm's work on behalf of leading business organizations and nonprofit clients in the public arena. Prior to launching GPS, Kevin worked for five years as the Chief of Staff for Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams and the Senate Majority Caucus of the Connecticut General Assembly. Highly regarded by elected officials and staff colleagues, he was elevated to the position of Chief of Staff after two years as the Director of Policy.

Kevin started his career working in the state legislature for the Senate Chairs of the Transportation and Judiciary Committees and then as the Executive Aide to Senate Majority Leader George C. Jepsen.

In 2001, he began work as the Executive Director of the Mobilize Against Tobacco for Children's Health (MATCH) Coalition. As the lead advocate and lobbyist for the Coalition, Kevin succeeded in working with a wide variety of partners and organizations to pass Connecticut's landmark statewide smoking ban legislation.

The campaign is widely regarded as one of the most effective legislative advocacy efforts of the modern era. Many of the grassroots techniques and campaign strategies developed and utilized received national attention and became a model for efforts in other states.

Kevin graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Business Administration. From 1999-2005 he served as an elected member of the Glastonbury Town Council.

James Albis

Partner

James Albis will join Graff Public Solutions in November of 2024 after nearly 15 years of public service in the legislative and executive branches of Connecticut government. James has extensive experience in drafting, negotiating, passing, and implementing legislation.

Beginning in 2011, James served 4 terms as a State Representative from Connecticut's 99th district. During his tenure, James was widely recognized as a strong advocate who was able to work with members of both parties on complex issues and generated numerous successes. As a freshman legislator, James was charged with chairing the Task Force on Shoreline Preservation, a bipartisan, bicameral task force dedicated to addressing issues related to sea level rise. That task force led to the passage of the first law in Connecticut history that required the state to plan for the impacts of sea level rise. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support.

James quickly moved up the legislative ranks, serving as the co-chairman of the Environment Committee and later as chair of the Screening Committee, where he worked directly with then-Majority Leader Matt Ritter to manage the flow of bills in the House. Throughout his tenure, James also served on the Judiciary, Government Administration & Elections, Insurance & Real Estate, Banking, and Finance, Revenue, & Bonding Committees.

In 2019, James moved to the executive branch and served as a Senior Advisor to Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes. There, James helped lead the agency's legislative programming and engaged on various stakeholder engagement efforts related to topics including offshore wind, climate change, and recycling. In 2021, James moved to the department's Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance, where he focused on policy development for the materials management sector and developed an expertise in matters related to recycling, including extended producer responsibility programs, organics recycling, and deposit return systems.

James returned to the legislative branch in 2023 as a Senior Policy Advisor for the House Democrats Office. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from New York University and a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.