President/CEO
Kyle A. Darby, Sr.
Kyle A. Darby is a lobbyist and political strategist based in Philadelphia, PA and Camden County, NJ. He is the President and CEO of Darby Public Strategies, a bipartisan consulting firm specializing in government relations, business advisory, and political consultation services.
Throughout his career, Darby has assisted clients in various industries, including real estate and development, healthcare, social and environmental justice, entertainment, professional sports, cannabis, cybersecurity, transportation, digital connectivity, and
logistics.
Kyle gained experience working in the U.S. Senate before serving as a senior adviser to many lobbying firms in the Northeast United States, including national law firm Buchanan Ingersoll &
Rooney’s federal and multi-state government relations practice.
Due to his expertise on both sides of the aisle and throughout the country, Kyle led government relations for Reform Alliance in eight states and in coordination with the White House in 2019 before launching his firm. In 2023, Kyle served as the senior policy advisor to the campaign of Cherelle Parker, the 100th Mayor of Philadelphia.
Kyle earned a B.A. in political science from Stockton University, an M.A. in public policy from Temple University, and an Executive Education Certificate in strategic leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Kyle has a profound interest in economic development in Africa and has worked on pre-feasibility studies for modernization and infrastructure projects, particularly in the Horn of Africa, since 2016. This led to Kyle founding the U.S. African Trade Alliance (USATA), which focuses on empowering U.S. enterprises to access high growth African markets by providing project advisory services, strategic investment matchmaking, and unlocking cross sectoral opportunities.
Kyle currently sits on the board of directors for Live Work Philadelphia, Generocity, and A Seat At The Table.
He enjoys spending time with his family, going on adventures with his school-aged son, watching Philadelphia sports teams, and golfing.
senior advisor
John C. Hawkins
As the founder of Philadelphia Strategies Group, John Hawkins draws on more than 25 years experience in the Greater Philadelphia public policy arena to get great results for his clients. Prior to launching PSG in January 2019, he was Vice President for City Relations at Wojdak Government Relations, one of Pennsylvania’s premier lobbying firms. John oversaw all issues in Philadelphia’s City Hall and successfully represented large corporations, developers, regional associations, universities, and non-profits for fourteen years.
Before Wojdak, John served as a legislative assistant and drafted and analyzed municipal and state legislation over six years for then-Councilman Jim Kenney and the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee. In the 1990s, John worked on various city and state political campaigns, and spent three years as the Research Director for the Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia’s “government watchdog” organization.
John holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, where for thirteen years he was an instructor on urban politics and municipal government at Penn’s Fels Institute of Government.
He lives in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he serves on the executive board of the East Falls Development Corporation. He swears he is much better at lobbying than he is at dyeing his youngest daughter’s hair (although he is getting pretty good at that too).
