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Management
Consulting and Training
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"As an attorney representing
both public and private sector employers, I frequently remind my
clients that winning lawsuits shouldn't be our objective--we
want to avoid lawsuits. Employers who understand this recognize the
benefit of obtaining top-quality training, policy review, and
compliance audits. Many of my clients have benefitted from Claire's
expertise in such tasks and, in this litigious environment, I will urge
more to do so." -- David Nagle,
Attorney, Jackson Lewis, Richmond, VA
"Thank
you for sharing your expertise with the CIC Department Chair Workshop
participants in Richmond. Your lively presentation style and sense of
humor made for an entertaining as well as informative presentation. You
clearly understand our institutions and the issues they address.
The
evaluation forms reflect the success of your presentation." -- Mary Ann Rehnke, Ph.D., Vice President
for Annual Programs, Council of Independent Colleges
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The firm’s
principal, Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, has extensive experience
advising and managing public and not-for-profit institutions, including
public and private colleges, universities and schools.
She has served as the Interim president of Chatham College and on a
number of not-for-profit boards.
Ms.
Gastañaga lectures and conducts seminars frequently on a variety
of legal subjects of interest to colleges and college administrators.
She has written extensively about compliance with federal civil rights
laws. Ms. Gastañaga also has served as an expert witness on
faculty hiring procedures, academic ethics and sexual harassment
policies.
Ms.
Gastañaga is particularly well known for her expertise in sexual
harassment policies and procedures. She taught her first seminar on
sexual harassment to deans and department heads at Princeton University
in 1978. Since that time, she has developed and taught seminars on
sexual harassment in different regions of the country for the American
Council on Education; written an article on preventing harassment
claims that appeared in Lex Collegii; and has conducted numerous
continuing education and professional training seminars and workshops
on sexual harassment at individual institutions and professional
meetings.
Ms.
Gastañaga was a trustee of Chatham College from 1981-87, and she
served as the College's interim president during the 1982-83 school
year -- a year in which the College overcame a serious budget deficit,
reduced the size of its faculty and staff and implemented a new core
curriculum.
Ms.
Gastañaga also served as assistant university counsel and
assistant secretary of the corporation at Princeton University. Beyond
providing legal advice, she staffed several committees of the Board of
Trustees and lectured in the politics department.
For seven years, while serving as Deputy
Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General's Office, Ms.
Gastanaga managed the legal representation of all of the state's public
colleges, museums and education agencies, including the state
department of education. She was the Attorney General's representative
on the Governor's Commission on Sexual Assault on College Campuses and
legal adviser to the Governor's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Ms. Gastañaga started her career as a
federal civil rights lawyer. Later, while in private practice in
Washington, D.C., Ms. Gastañaga represented and advised public
and private institutions on faculty tenure issues, academic freedom,
health care provider questions, environmental issues, export/import
problems, building design and construction problems, government
contracts and audit issues, Title IX compliance and student personnel
matters, among others.
Ms.
Gastañaga is a former director of the National Association of
College and University Attorneys. She was honored as one of the first
two "Fellows" of the Association in recognition of her contributions to
higher education law.
Recent education and public sector consulting
projects include an audit of employment practices for a major state
university system, assistance to universities engaged in revising
faculty handbooks, objective investigation and advice on complex
personnel problems, advice on institutional and organizational
governance and training in ethics and conflicts of interest.
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| Business
Advocacy |
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When
I needed to get the attention of the top state official overseeing
government
contracting to solve a problem that was adversely affecting my
business, cg2
Consulting made it happen. Problem
solved.”
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cg2 consulting brings years of public
policy advocacy, unrivaled networks and
contacts to bear in helping women and minority owned businesses
identify and
capitalize on new business opportunities. Whether
it is solving the mysteries of public
or private procurement
processes, obtaining needed certification or simply finding the right
person to
talk to solve a business issue or make a sale, cg2 consulting can help your
business grow and prosper.
The firm’s
principal is the 2003 SBA Virginia Women in Business Advocate of the
Year.
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| Government
Relations and Legislative Strategy |
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“Claire
Guthrie Gastañaga has been at the forefront of advocacy for
legislation
designed to help women owned businesses since at least 1995.”
- Dorothy Wood,
President of JD& W Construction, Inc.
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The
firm’s principal,
Claire Guthrie
Gastañaga, has more than twenty-five years of legal and
government
relations experience at the federal, state and local levels. Ms.
Gastañaga has served as a senior advisor to the leadership of
the
Virginia General Assembly holding positions including Chief of Staff
and Counsel to the Speaker of the Virginia House, Legislative Counsel
to the Democratic Leader, Legislative Counsel to the House Democratic
Caucus and counsel to the House Courts of Justice Committee and the
House Committee on Finance.
In
1993-94, Ms. Gastañaga was the first woman to serve as Chief
Deputy
Attorney General of Virginia. As Chief Deputy, Ms. Gastañaga
supervised
all of the legal work, oversaw personnel and day-to-day operations and
guided the legislative activities of the Office of the Attorney General
-- a public law firm with an annual budget exceeding $15 million and
over 250 employees. Prior to her appointment as Chief Deputy, Ms.
Gastañaga served as Deputy Attorney General of the Human and
Natural
Resources Division in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from
1986-1993.
As
assistant general
counsel and assistant director of the Office of
Federal Regulatory Affairs at the American Council on Education in the
early 1980’s, Ms. Gastañaga managed a variety of federal
regulatory
issues affecting higher education including affirmative action, gender
equity in athletics, unrelated business income tax, human subject
research, small producer hazardous waste and reasonable accommodation
of disabled students, faculty and staff. She has testified before
Congress on environmental issues.
In
1996, the Richmond
City Council appointed Ms. Gastañaga to the
Commission on ReEngineering City Government on which she served for
three years as a member of the Executive Committee. Ms. Gastañaga
also served as a citizen member of the
Council's Commission on City Government in 2003.
In 1994, the
Greater
Richmond YWCA named Ms. Gastañaga its Outstanding
Woman in Law for the significant impact of her environmental work in
the Attorney General's Office, her active community involvement and her
commitment to equality and racial harmony. Ms. Gastañaga has
been
honored three times as a Pacesetter at the annual Southern Women in
Public Service Conference sponsored by the Stennis Center for Public
Service.
In 2003, the
Small Business Administration named Ms. Gastañaga
its Women in Business Advocate of the Year for Virginia.
In 2004, the
National Association of Women Business Owners named Ms. Gastanaga, its
national Chapter Public Policy Advocate of the Year.
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| Political Consulting |
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“I entered
my race for City Council a 60/40 underdog. With
Claire’s strategic advice and
counsel, I defeated the incumbent 55%
to 45%.”
-- Jackie M. Jackson,
Richmond
City Council
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cg2 consulting has
worked with candidates and legislative caucuses since
1995
developing a particular expertise in working with women candidates.
The firm’s
principal worked with all of the Democratic women candidates for
election to
the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 helping to define persuasive
messages and
develop winning campaign plans and teams.
Since that
time, cg2 has provided research and advice to candidates from City
Council to
statewide office, including current Virginia governor Mark L. Warner,
current
Virginia Lt. Governor Timothy M. Kaine, former speaker of the House Tom
Moss,
former majority leader C. Richard Cranwell, Virginia Delegate Viola
Baskerville, Richmond City Council woman Jackie M. Jackson, and current
Richmond School Board member Carol Wolf. Both
Jackson and Wolf beat incumbents by
significant margins.
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