Government Affairs · Organizational Development · Advocacy

Strategic counsel for organizations navigating consequential moments.

Holly Knoll Strategic Advisors partners with nonprofits, associations, labor and education organizations, foundations, and public-sector leaders to navigate government, develop and strengthen their institutions, and advance the policy that matters to their mission.

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OhioIndianaKentuckyNew Jersey
Holly Knoll Strategic Advisors
The Practice

Four ways we help institutions and leaders move forward.

Every engagement is built around the same conviction: organizations doing important work deserve to be understood by the people who decide. The work spans the statehouse, the boardroom, and the community.

Government & Public Affairs

The core of the practice. We map the policy landscape, build the coalitions that move it, and make the case directly to the officials and stakeholders who shape outcomes.

Signature Offering Fractional Government Relations

Senior government affairs capacity without adding a full-time executive to your payroll.

  • Legislative & regulatory strategy
  • Coalition & stakeholder engagement
  • Advocacy campaign design
  • Government relations counsel
From the track record

In Indiana, a Republican supermajority state, led the coalition that defeated legislation restricting the teaching of honest history and crafted the strategy that protected educators’ collective bargaining rights. In New Jersey, ran the 180,000-member political program behind the first re-election of a labor-endorsed governor in fifty years.

Organizational Strategy & Development

For institutions navigating growth, transition, or a new mandate. We help leaders set direction, develop the organization and its people, strengthen governance, and design programs that turn intent into durable capacity.

  • Organizational development
  • Strategic planning
  • Board & governance development
  • Program design & assessment
From the track record

As inaugural director of a state association’s first Government, Community & Racial and Social Justice department, the first in an NEA affiliate to pair equity work with government and community affairs, set its direction and led a six-person team and multimillion-dollar program serving 40,000 members and one million students. Has governed as a board member of public and nonprofit organizations with budgets in the tens of millions of dollars.

Leadership, Community & Stakeholder Engagement

The people, communities, and stakeholders behind lasting change. We develop leaders, engage the communities and stakeholders that matter, and convene the gatherings that align them around shared goals.

  • Stakeholder & coalition engagement
  • Leadership development
  • Convenings & events
  • Community & equity engagement
From the track record

As chairman of New Jersey’s Healthy Schools Now coalition, quadrupled its membership and rejuvenated it for greater prominence and participation. Co-founded the Indiana Educational Equity Coalition and founded a statewide Student Leadership Academy, convening partners across sectors toward shared goals.

Executive Leadership & Talent

Trusted counsel to leaders and organizations on the people who lead them. We run executive searches, guide leadership transitions, and mentor newly appointed leaders as they step into their roles.

  • Executive search & recruitment
  • Leadership transition
  • Executive onboarding
  • Leadership mentoring
  • Organizational talent strategy
From the track record

Served on two executive leadership teams, confirmed municipal department directors as a Trenton City Councilman, and chaired the search committee for the Executive Director of the Mercer County, New Jersey Board of Social Services.

Where We Help

Built for the moments that move you forward.

Selected Work

Results that speak for themselves.

A sample of what focused strategy and genuine relationships make possible.

Protecting Collective Bargaining

Challenge

Legislation threatened existing educator bargaining rights in a Republican supermajority state.

Approach

Built legislative relationships, coordinated internal stakeholders, and developed a bipartisan strategy.

Result

Existing bargaining rights were preserved.

Building a Government Affairs Function

Challenge

A statewide teachers association launched the first department in its national federation to pair equity work with government and community affairs, and needed a leader to build it out.

Approach

Hired as its inaugural director, set the direction, recruited the team, established priorities, and built a statewide equity coalition.

Result

A six-person department and multimillion-dollar program serving 40,000 members.

Delivering a Historic Re-election

Challenge

A statewide union needed to mobilize 180,000 members behind its endorsed candidate in a pivotal governor’s race.

Approach

Designed and led the member political program, built the turnout operation, and served as liaison to the legislative delegation.

Result

The first re-election of a labor-endorsed governor in fifty years.

Growing a Statewide Coalition

Challenge

The Healthy Schools Now coalition needed greater reach, influence, and visibility across New Jersey.

Approach

As chairman and senior campaign organizer, built cross-sector partnerships, earned nationally recognized media coverage, and launched a student leadership pipeline.

Result

Grew the coalition by 400% and founded the Healthy Schools Student Leadership Academy.

The Name

Named for a place where leaders gathered to build.

Holly Knoll Strategic Advisors draws its name from Holly Knoll, the Virginia home of the educator Dr. Robert Russa Moton, where for much of the twentieth century Black leaders, educators, and organizers gathered to think clearly, strategize, and build institutions meant to outlast them. It was a place defined by purpose rather than noise: people of consequence meeting quietly to solve hard problems and advance a shared cause.

That is the tradition this firm is named to honor, and the standard it holds for the work. We believe durable progress is built the way it was built there, through disciplined strategy, genuine relationships, and coalitions assembled with intention. Our role is to be that kind of table for the organizations we serve: a place where leaders can think, plan, and prepare to be heard by the people who decide.

Good government affairs isn't access for its own sake. It's knowing the process, building the coalition, and making the case.

Holly Knoll Strategic Advisors is an independent firm named in tribute to that legacy. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, The Gloucester Institute or the Holly Knoll estate.

About the Principal

More than a decade at the intersection of policy, organizations, and public purpose.

Jerell A. Blakeley is the founder and principal of Holly Knoll Strategic Advisors LLC. A government affairs, public policy, and organizational development executive, he has spent more than a decade building and leading government relations, policy, communications, and organizational development functions for some of the largest member organizations in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, representing tens of thousands of members and advocating on behalf of more than a million students.

He advises organizations the way he has led them: as a fractional government relations partner, a coalition builder, and a builder of institutions. A former registered lobbyist in Indiana and New Jersey, he was the inaugural director of a first-of-its-kind department, the first in an NEA affiliate to pair equity work with government and community affairs, where he set the direction and built the Indiana Educational Equity Coalition. That coalition helped make Indiana the only Republican supermajority state to defeat legislation restricting the teaching of honest history while protecting educators’ collective bargaining rights, and he directed the 180,000-member political program behind the first re-election of a labor-endorsed New Jersey governor in fifty years.

His commitment to public service runs deep. He has served as a Trenton City Councilman, as Vice Chairman of the Mercer County, New Jersey Board of Social Services, as President of the Redevelopment Commission for the City of Lawrence, Indiana, and as a gubernatorial appointee at the New Jersey Department of Labor. He has sat on a range of nonprofit and professional boards, among them the Government Affairs Society of Indiana, the National Association of Legislative and Political Specialists for Education, the Indiana University Dean’s Advisory Board, and the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey. He is an Eagleton Fellow, a New Leaders Council Fellow, a Diversity in Leadership Fellow, and a Lead New Jersey Fellow.

His leadership has been recognized nationally by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Indianapolis Business Journal, and Black Enterprise. A proud graduate of Howard University, he serves as an instructor of African American Studies at Central State University and is a law student at Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Selected Experience
Instructor, African American Studies
Central State University
Teaches African American Studies at Central State University, the only public HBCU in Ohio.
Assistant Executive Director, Member Advocacy
Ohio Education Association
Directed the government relations, policy research, and communications departments, and co-led the union's property-tax member education and 2026 campaign planning teams.
Inaugural Director of Government, Community & Racial and Social Justice
Indiana State Teachers Association
Hired as the inaugural director of the first department in an NEA affiliate to pair equity work with government and community affairs; set its direction, led a six-person team and multimillion-dollar program on behalf of 40,000 members and one million students, and built the Indiana Educational Equity Coalition that helped defeat restrictive education legislation in a Republican supermajority state.
Associate Director of Government Relations & Registered Lobbyist
New Jersey Education Association
Lobbied for the state's largest union across its seven southern counties, served as liaison to the South Jersey legislative delegation, and led the 180,000-member political program behind the first re-election of a labor-endorsed governor in fifty years.
Councilman-at-Large
City of Trenton, New Jersey
Elected citywide to the municipal governing body, helping set policy and budget for New Jersey's capital city.
Bureau Chief, Constituent Relations & Outreach
New Jersey Department of Labor
Gubernatorial appointee leading outreach, employer education, and constituent relations for the state's newly expanded family and disability leave programs.
Senior Campaign Organizer, Healthy Schools Now
New Jersey Work Environment Council
Registered lobbyist who convened and chaired a statewide, multi-sector coalition for healthy and modern public schools, quadrupling its membership and positioning it for greater prominence and participation.
Social Studies Teacher
Trenton Central High School
Taught U.S. History and African American Studies, where a career in public service began.
Education
  • J.D. CandidateSalmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University
  • Ed.D. Coursework, Education Policy & Social ChangeUniversity of Pittsburgh
  • Ed.M.Rutgers University · Eagleton-Martin Fellow
  • B.A. in HistoryHoward University
Academic Appointments
  • Instructor, African American StudiesCentral State University · Present
  • LecturerRutgers University, School of Management & Labor Relations
  • LecturerIndiana University, Indianapolis
Fellowships & Leadership
  • Eagleton Institute of Politics FellowRutgers University
  • New Leaders Council Fellow
  • Lead New Jersey Fellow
  • Diversity in Leadership ProgramChange at the Top, Central Indiana
Recognition
  • 40 Under 40, NationalAlpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
  • 40 Under 40Indianapolis Business Journal
  • Modern Man 100Black Enterprise
Licensure & Affiliations
  • Former Registered LobbyistIndiana & New Jersey
  • Organizational Development Consultant, Inaugural CohortNew Jersey Education Association
Professional Boards
  • Board MemberGovernment Affairs Society of Indiana
  • Board MemberNational Association of Legislative & Political Specialists for Education
Board & Civic Service
  • President, Redevelopment CommissionCity of Lawrence, Indiana
  • Vice Chairman, Board of Social ServicesMercer County, New Jersey
  • Board MemberFair Housing Center of Central Indiana
  • Board MemberChildren's Home Society of New Jersey
  • Dean's Advisory CouncilIndiana University School of Education
  • Board MemberWorkforce Investment Board, Mercer County
  • Student Board MemberTrenton, New Jersey Board of Education
Formative Public Service

During his years at historic Howard University, service in senior federal and District of Columbia offices:

  • Office of the SecretaryU.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
  • Assistant Secretary, Fair Housing & Equal OpportunityU.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
  • White House Initiative on HBCUsHistorically Black Colleges & Universities
  • Office of the Deputy SecretaryU.S. Department of the Interior
  • Office of the Deputy ChancellorDistrict of Columbia Public Schools
Jerell A. Blakeley
Jerell A. Blakeley
In Their Words

Effective across every divide.

Across more than a decade, Blakeley has worked in blue states and red states; with liberals, moderates, and conservatives; in urban, suburban, and rural communities; across white, Black, and brown communities; in big states and small; and with officials at the local, county, state, and federal levels. In each of them, he has found a way to get things done and to see problems creatively.

In a political climate often hostile to labor and public education, Jerell found ways to build bridges without compromising our core values, cultivating relationships with both traditional allies and political opponents to protect collective bargaining rights and strengthen the association's influence. He is a coalition-builder in the truest sense, and his ability to connect people, build momentum, and turn ideas into action, finding common interests that were difficult to see at first, is what sets him apart.
Nate Williams Executive Director, Indiana State Teachers Association
Jerell is someone motivated to get things done. He is bright, principled and totally professional in his approach to problem solving. He and I have often been on opposite sides of an issue but have always been able to come to a good resolution because of his ability to see the issue from all sides.
Charlie McKenna
Partner, Riker Danzig; former Chief, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey
A supremely talented organizer: a skilled writer, incredibly articulate public speaker, and able to make connections to drive an agenda. I respect Jerell's commitment to social justice and educational equity, and I'm impressed by his passion for making a difference, professionally, as a volunteer, and as a former elected official. Definitely recommend Jerell, and trust he will continue to do great things in the future.
Dan Fatton
Director, Clean Energy; hired and managed Jerell on the Healthy Schools Now campaign
Jerell has keen insight into complex situations and is highly-skilled at developing trust and building interpersonal relations. Very talented at creating solutions to complex problems and cultivating buy-in from relevant stakeholders, even in very difficult environments with multiple competing interests. A quick study of new information and subjects, and just a pleasure to collaborate with.
Jeff Papa, Ph.D.
Chief of Staff & General Counsel, Indiana State Senate
I have been consistently impressed by his intellectual rigor, depth of experience, and unwavering commitment to advancing scholarship and practice alike. A scholar-practitioner whose real-world expertise in public education, government relations, and social justice enriches his work, he demonstrates a sustained commitment to equity, public advocacy, and coalition-building. He teaches with empathy and leads with integrity.
Dr. Marquita Walker
Interim Chair, Department of Labor Studies, Indiana University Indianapolis
How We Work

Senior capacity, structured to fit.

For ongoing needs, we work on a monthly retainer with a defined scope and a set block of hours, across the practice: a government affairs function, an organizational development partnership, or standing advisory to a leader. Three tiers let you match the engagement to what is actually at stake.

Advisory

~8 hours monthly

On-call counsel and a senior set of eyes, whether on the policy landscape, an organizational challenge, or a leadership decision, with quarterly strategy to keep you ahead of it.

Best forSmaller organizations, or focused and seasonal needs.
Where most clients land

Core

~16 hours monthly

An active, ongoing partnership: most often a fractional government affairs function, but equally standing organizational-development or executive advisory. Your embedded senior partner, with regular reporting.

Best forAssociations, nonprofits, and institutions that need sustained senior capacity, not a full-time hire.

Lead

~28 hours monthly

Full outsourced leadership of a function or effort: a government relations operation, an organizational transformation, or a major coalition and campaign, with executive and board support throughout.

Best forOrganizations with an active agenda and real stakes on the line.
Also available

Project & Campaign

Defined-scope, time-bound work across every practice area: a legislative or regulatory campaign, a strategic plan, a coalition build, an executive search, or a governance overhaul. On its own, or layered on a retainer.

01

Introductory call

A 20 to 30 minute conversation to understand what is at stake and whether we are a fit.

02

Scope & proposal

A written scope with defined hours, deliverables, and clear terms. No surprises.

03

Engagement

We begin, with regular check-ins and one senior point of contact throughout.

Holly Knoll takes on a small number of retained clients at a time, so each one gets senior attention, not a hand-off to a junior team.

Contact

Let’s talk about the moment your organization is navigating.

Whether you’re advancing a policy priority, shaping your next chapter, or building the coalition to get there, a first conversation is the place to begin.