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Meet Your Mentor
Andrea McWilliams
Lobbyist and political fundraiser Andrea McWilliams is a skilled strategist, combining grace with grit and patience with persuasion. Known for her meticulous attention to detail, McWilliams brings her unique expertise to every issue she engages, drawing on her time in both the private and public sector. The national media, including FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, USA Today, CNN, BBC, and NPR have all reported on McWilliams’ role as a leading fundraiser and political strategist. She is a national political commentator and has been profiled in a number of Texas publications as well.
McWilliams is a proud recipient of the Austin Business Journal’s “Profiles in Power Award” and was bestowed by the Girl Scouts of Central Texas with the “Woman of Distinction” Award. In 2012, Andrea received the “Austin Under 40” Award. The Austin American–Statesman has also honored her as a member of its Glossy 8 list. This year, she will receive the Austin Fashion Week “Style Setter” award that additionally recognizes dedication to local non-profit organizations.
A Chief of Staff at 21, McWilliams went on to hone her private sector grassroots skills at the iconic public relations company Public Strategies, Inc. Today she is the co–founder of McWilliams, a full–service firm of governmental affairs consultants. McWilliams opened its doors when the husband and wife team of Andrea and Dean combined their talents and experience to form what has become a respected alliance, trusted at the local, state and national level.
Family and Community:
Raised just steps from the Texas Capitol on Congress Avenue, McWilliams now resides in Old Enfield, where she and husband, Dean, are raising their three children in a historic home. McWilliams is a well-known philanthropist and community volunteer, named on many occasions to the “All-Stars” of Austin American Statesman Fortunate 500 list. She has served as a board member for many other nonprofit organizations, including Texas Lyceum, Preservation Austin, Mexi–Arte Museum, Ballet Austin, Arthouse, Pease Park Conservancy, Rise Across Texas Challenge, HeartGift, the Elizabeth Ann Seton Hospital, Austin Children in Crisis, Pioneer Farms and the Waterloo President’s Council. She is an inaugural member of the Long Center’s Notable Women and a long-time member of the St. David’s Hospital Toast of the Town Committee. A native Austinite, McWilliams is a proud past President of Inherit Austin, an organization founded to preserve Austin’s architectural and cultural past by not only protecting the city’s important landmarks and historical fabric, but safeguarding its unique character as well.
McWilliams has represented the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and KillCancer, two nonprofit groups committed to cancer prevention. She was also honorary chair for the Mamma Jamma Ride, which since its inaugural ride, has raised millions of dollars for non-profits serving thousands of Central Texans coping with breast cancer. In recognition, the Seton Breast Cancer Center in Austin named their screening room after McWilliams in 2014.
Aside from her continued board service with Preservation Austin, Ballet Austin and the Pease Park Conservancy, she served as a member of the Girl Scouts Centennial Celebration Committee and chaired Austin’s largest charity event, the Ballet Fete, benefiting Ballet Austin. McWilliams also co-chaired the Marathon Kids gala, promoting healthy initiatives for children that will serve a quarter million registered elementary students across the state and country in the upcoming school year and was a chair for the University of Texas Blanton Museum of Art Gala. She is a proud member of the 2016 Emerald Ball Committee, whose endeavors support the American Ireland Fund. McWilliams currently serves on the PAC Board of Ryan, an award-winning global tax services firm.