Donne Brownsey, Senior Vice-President of Sacramento Advocates, Inc. was one of the first women to found her own lobbying firm, Government Solutions in 1993, after serving for over a decade in top legislative staff positions, including eight years as Chief Legislative Consultant to the leader of the State Senate. Having merged her highly successful business with Sacramento Advocates in 2004, Ms. Brownsey provides government relations services that include legislative and state government advocacy and strategic consultation services. Ms. Brownsey’s current clients include Academy of California Adoption Lawyers, the Breast Cancer Fund, the California Dispute Resolution Council, California Opioid Maintenance Providers, Compassion and Choices, JAMS, Solar Alliance, TEVA Pharmaceuticals USA, Western Union and county election officials. Ms. Brownsey has extensive contacts with major constitutional officers and their executive staff as well as numerous directors and deputy directors of state departments as well as agency staff.
Ms. Brownsey has extensive experience working on a broad range of state issues. She has drafted and negotiated major state legislation and state budget items, including many first in the nation laws. Over her career, she played a major role in enacting laws such as the state’s ban on assault weapons, biomonitoring and green chemistry the latchkey childcare program, pain medicine reforms, epedigree pharmaceutical product reform, and the licensed nurse to patient ratio law. Brownsey has worked extensively with numerous state departments on regulation packets, setting up new programs, securing funding mechanisms for programs and has served on numerous state department work groups to negotiate legislation, program finances and policy guidelines. In 2005, Brownsey also served as the legislative chair for the ABA Dispute Resolution committee and in the mid 1990s, on the Board of Capitol Network, a professional organization for women lobbyists.
Prior to beginning her legislative staff career at the State Capitol, Ms. Brownsey was the Program Director for the National Student Education Fund in Washington D.C. and was also a legislative advocate for the California State Student Association. While at CSSA, Brownsey organized the first statewide women students’ conference in the nation as well as mobilized a state wide student campaign opposed to a ballot measure that would have cut state spending on higher education.
Ms. Brownsey is licensed to practice law in California. She holds a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University, Chico. While at CSU, Chico she served as the Controller of the then $5 million Associated Students corporation.
Ms. Brownsey is married to Peter McNamee. They have a daughter, Meredith.
