Local firm builds bridges between government officials and community members
Mustafa Rashed often wondered why there was of lack of African American-owned government relations firms in a majority minority city like Philadelphia.
So he stepped up to help fill the void and launched his own business. Founded in 2011, Bellevue Strategies is a government relations, strategic communications, advocacy and digital communications firm.
“We are seeing that the need is there for competent folks in government relations that can uniquely relate to and explain the nuances of the communities in which we live,” Rashed said. “You need to be able to do that.”
Rashed started paying attention to politics as a teenager growing up in Southwest Philadelphia. He interned at the Philadelphia Tribune when he was 14 and was exposed to civic, private and public affairs.
“From that age I started to understand the importance of politics and what it means and what it can do for our communities,” Rashed said.
He would later gain working experience in areas of government affairs and communications prior to starting his own firm.
His company believes that diversity is their strategic weapon to be able to foster communication between community members, businesses and elected officials.
“We realized that government relations policy is great, but you need to be able to communicate it,” said Rashed, who is the president and CEO of Bellevue Strategies.
“Bridging that gap between elected officials and businesses and communities I think is critically important, as we saw within the last year in helping people understand rules and regulations that impacted their business.”
“A lot of people didn’t realize what the city government was responsible for and what state government was responsible for,” he continued.
Rashed said that the pandemic really clarified for people the responsibilities of officials like the health commissioner, mayor and the governor.
“We hope that it is teachable movement for us all and that people understand what ballot initiatives are and what they can do,” reflected the 47-year-old Philadelphia native, Temple University alumnus and U.S. Navy combat veteran.
“We feel like we have a role in the process to help people understand all of this.”
Bellevue Strategies has experienced an uptick in business clients since the pandemic hit last year.
“We found that our value was demonstrated even more when folks had regulation issues, closure issues and funding issues,” Rashed explained.
“It became exceptional busy and we were fortunate enough to be in a position to help so many folks with some of their challenges with state and local government throughout the pandemic and continuing through now.”
One project that he is excited about is Bellevue Strategies’ work in helping minority-owned businesses do a better job in participating in public funded projects as President Joe Biden has proposed an $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to improve the nation’s airports, bridges, ports, roads and transit systems.
The company is lobbying U.S. Small Business Administration on behalf of its client, David Mason + Associates to make sure that minority-owned companies are able to participate in upcoming infrastructure projects in a fair manner.
“Knowing that this is a lifetime opportunity with this infrastructure bill how do we make sure that minority owned companies who are qualified, capable and have the capacity, get a fair shot to compete for some these generational projects that are coming along,” Rashed said.
“I think that that’s important work. We’ll be able to set the table, we believe, for the next few generations to start to grow generational wealth and opportunity for those businesses.”
This comes as the firm serves as a board support liaison for City Councilmember Cherelle Parker who chairs the Delaware River Port Authority board. The DRPA oversees the bridges that connect Pennsylvania and New Jersey and the PATCO high speed line.
“We think this is a particularly exciting time to help the chairwoman and the great team at DRPA plant a vision for the future of what transportation infrastructure could look like,” Rashed said.