Building GIIA’s vital partnerships in the US
GIIA's new Policy & Public Affairs Manager, Alessandro Pecorari, accompanied CEO Jon Phillips and US Senior Adviser David Quam to Washington DC to meet with members and stakeholders and take part in the National Governors Association's Winter Meeting
Travelling from London to Washington on President’s Day (Monday 19 February), a packed schedule awaited the GIIA group. Tuesday began in the nation’s capital where Alessandro, Jon and David had an extensive meeting with GIIA’s communications agency ROKK Solutions to consolidate the challenges, opportunities and messaging strategies needed to educate US stakeholders about the benefits of private finance in infrastructure.
The GIIA group then met with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to hear about plans for their 2025 Report Card and other upcoming advocacy activities. The Report Card is of special importance to GIIA as it evaluates the state of America’s infrastructure in 17 categories, applying a school report card style, A-F grading system. It also includes recommendations on how to raise those grades. Alessandro’s schedule then took him to one of GIIA’s longstanding partners, the Bipartisan Policy Center, to discuss where efforts can be coordinated over the next year. An exciting day could not have ended better than with a walk past the US Capitol under clear blue skies.
Wednesday was a chance to reconnect with the American Association of State Highway & Transportation, where Jon and Alessandro updated their partners on GIIA members’ sentiment towards the U.S., following the passing of the once-in-a-generation Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The meeting helped crystallize the fact that whilst the IIJA was groundbreaking, there is a significant lag in disbursements of funds and in shovels ‘hitting the ground’ for infrastructure projects – certain provisions such as value capture and toll grants have yet to be properly accessed. With an election this year putting a strain on all things politics and the reauthorization of IIJA appearing on the 2026 horizon, there is urgent need for capacity building, education, and the updating of inefficient permitting processes to make the most of the IIJA’s funds.
David organised for Jon and Alessandro to meet with Reid Wilson, founder and editor of state governments news outlet Pluribus. It was a chance to communicate GIIA’s messages and goal of socializing positive public-private partnership stories with a long-time state political and legislative reporter.
Following GIIA’s initial connection with the Business Roundtable (BRT) in November, the group reconnected with their infrastructure team at The Wharf, along the Potomac River. Discussions focused on the upcoming Infrastructure Week in May, and how GIIA can collaborate with BRT as it seeks to make greater inroads into the infrastructure-focused week of events. A good back-and-forth of ideas was momentarily broken up by Marine One, the President’s helicopter, cutting through the sky overhead!
The day ended with a visit to the Build America Bureau at the Department of Transportation. Alessandro, Jon, and David tapped into very interesting information about successful P3 models at state level, and discussed educational strategies and how to replicate such successes at both municipal and state levels.
The NGA Winter Meeting began on Thursday. The morning consisted of an extended monthly meeting of GIIA’s US Policy Working Group. Convening the meeting in person meant a chance to develop a stimulating agenda where GIIA members, NGA Infrastructure leads, and our public relations partner ROKK were able to engage in a fruitful discussion where questions and themes could be discussed more fully.
Our NGA-focused afternoon included a one-to-one meeting with former Governor of Maryland and infrastructure champion Larry Hogan, to discuss his plans for this year. Such discussions revealed themselves to be intriguing and a reflection of just how much the higher echelon of US politics passionately engages with GIIA and the much-needed promotion of public-private partnerships in infrastructure.
Alessandro, Jon and David’s final day in Washington was an opportunity for further networking at breakfast and drinks receptions, attending panel discussions on NGA’s priorities for energy and infrastructure in 2024, and enjoying a Partners’ State and Staff Lunch which ended with a fireside chat with Steve Inskeep, political commentator, biographer and historian, discussing the need to disagree better through the fascinating prism of Abraham Lincoln’s life.
Alessandro joined GIIA in January of this year as Policy and Public Affairs Manager covering the United States and European Union.
He previously worked for H/Advisors Cicero in London, supporting clients and associations in the financial services, energy and transport sectors. Alessandro has engaged with international stakeholders from across government, embassies, and civil society spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas. He began his career in human rights advocacy, working for an international NGO in Brussels. Alessandro holds a Master’s degree in Global History from the University of Edinburgh and is fluent in French and Spanish alongside his native English and Italian.
If you'd like to get in touch with Alessandro regarding the US, please email apecorari@giia.net.