Breon Wells is a policy advisor, social impact strategist, communications expert, racial equity consultant, thought leader, public speaker, Faith leader, and author. He advises non-profit organizations, corporations, activists and celebrity influencers on developing social impact strategies, public policy agendas, and brand management. A military dependent, Breon was born in Spain, and grew up predominately in the European continent, to include Turkey, Germany, and England. As a result of this privilege, Breon developed a global perspective on life and social impact at an early age, a mindset that informs his work to this very day.
He is the President and Founder of The Daniel Initiative (TDI), a government relations, strategic communications, and social impact firm that specifically services traditionally underrepresented and underserved populations in public policy spaces in the United States and Internationally. TDI raises the visibility and capacity of our clientele to engage with governmental institutions, corporations, social movements, issue-based campaigns, and the media. This work has included direct lobbying; developing legislative strategies and communications modules in line with the goals of our clients; providing trainings to leaders and organizations on effective advocacy strategies and messaging campaigns; organizing Hill Advocacy Days; providing legislative analysis and recommendations; facilitating meetings with high stake donors; and convening public discussions on social issues. TDI has assisted clients in managing their political and social capital by developing public policy agendas on issues of voting rights, criminal justice transformation, racial equity, national security, and cybersecurity. Some of our clients include influencers, civil rights leaders and organizations like
Demos, the
Buried Alive Project,
The Decarceration Collective. As a former Congressional Aide in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and on the Senate Armed Services Committee(SASC), Breon is a public policy expert (national security, international relations, cybersecurity, tech policy, voting rights, criminal justice transformation, police accountability, economic policy), and a government relations strategist. While on the SASC, he provided legislative support to the Investigations Team (Detainee Abuse), the Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee, and the foreign affairs team (particularly African and Asian geopolitics). TDI continues to assist clients in navigating the annual National Defense Authorization Act and broader national security issues.
Breon has been a leading expert on racial equity, voting rights and
criminal justice reform issues for a number of National Coalitions that engaged the Biden-Harris Transition Team and Administration. Finally, in alignment with his firm’s mission, Breon convenes several international public policy coalitions that center racial equity and collective liberation. Since 2022, Breon has frequently worked with some of the United Nations’ antiracist mechanisms including the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD), the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent (PFPAD), and the International Independent Expert Mechanism on Racial Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLAR).In 2023 he presented a digital equity plan to the WGEPAD at the U.N. Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and the PFPAD at the U.N. Headquarters in NYC. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TDI launched the Coalition on International Aid (COIA), which includes organizations like Open Society Foundation,
WCAPS, and
DINSN.
Breon is a Senior Advisor to the
National Commission for Voter Justice and TDI serves as a Founding partnering firm. Founded by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Senior this Commission of twenty-five national leaders has conducted hearings across the nation studying voter suppression, felony disenfranchisement, voter engagement, and voter turnout. In February 2020, Breonbecame a Co-Facilitator of Demos’ Voter Purge Table (VPT). In 2020, TDI restructured the VPT and dramatically expanded its membership to include more than 70 BIPOC advocates, activists, and organizers. On August 28, 2020 Breoncoordinated Congressional Engagement for the 2020 March on Washington, which was convened by Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. In 2021, the firm managed Congressional affairs and developed the public policy agenda for Black Voters Matters' Freedom Rides Bus Tour.
Breon is the Co-Chair of the Reentry Working Group, and the Co-Convener of the Voting Rights Restoration Working Groupand the Federal School Discipline and Climate Coalition(FedSDC). In 2020, through The Daniel Initiative, Breonlaunched the Economic Equity Roundtable and the Tech Equity Council. These two national coalitions connect community leaders and activists with national social justice organizations and Federal Government entities. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TDI launched the Coalition on International Aid (COIA), which has developed work on disinformation, misinformation, digital equity and disparities in international aid. Breon is the Co-Chair of the Trade and Policy Committee at the British American Business Association (BABA).
Breon sits on several Board of Directors including Initiatives of Change USA; the Black Student Fund, the Center for Creatives Entrepreneurship and is a member of ForbesBLK. He is the cohost of Leverage: Politics, Power, & Influence. He is also the Executive Producer and Host of “The Policy Plug with BreonWells”. This podcast makes public policy discussions more accessible to everyday people. It’s the space that humanizes the people who influence policy and bring the policy to the people. He sees the merging of activism and public policy engagement as his contribution to furthering civil and human rights.