The National Black Professional Lobbyists Association (NBPLA) was born out of an all too familiar experience for Black state lobbyists. An Arizona based lobbyist was aggressively pushing for his colleague in Alabama to be considered as the state lobbyist for a start-up tech company. Even though the Alabama lobbyist had nearly 20-years of experience in government affairs and represented one of the largest tech companies in the world, he was not even afforded the opportunity to present his proposal. The two lobbyists at the center of this story, Gregory Jones and John Heath, reached the conclusion that change would only occur if Black lobbyists banded together to ensure they had access to the same opportunities as their white counterparts. From there, Jones added one of the nation's most dynamic female lobbyists, Yolanda Jackson, to the conversation and within weeks, the vision for the NBPLA came into formation. Visit www.nbpla.org to learn more about the organization's mission.