Arthur (“Art”) R. Collins is the Managing Partner of theGROUP and has over 25 years of experience as a trusted and valued advisor on corporate and political strategy and public policy.

  

Prior to founding theGROUP, Collins was Chairman and CEO of Public Private Partnership, Inc., which he established in 1989. He led the company’s multifaceted practice counseling corporate, government, nonprofit and political clients on issues of national security, energy, healthcare, retail, agriculture, information technology, transportation, manufacturing and financial services.  

Collins began his professional career as a systems engineer with the IBM Corporation, where he counseled elected officials and state government executives on management efficiency and delivery of vital services through emerging technology. He also served as an insurance regulator and as the Legislative Director for the Florida Department of Insurance.  

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Collins is a member of the Board of Trustees of RLJ Lodging Trust, a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on acquiring premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels.  

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As part of his commitment to public policy and global advocacy, Collins serves on the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution, the world’s leading public policy think tank, and Meridian International Center, a leading non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to international understanding.  

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Collins is Chairman of the Morehouse School of Medicine Board of Trustees and also serves as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s (CBCI) policy think tank, the 21st Century Council. Previous appointments include membership on the Florida Prepaid College Board, Florida Consumer Council, Florida Small and Minority Business Advisory Council, Florida Governor’s Business Advisory Council on Education, and Chairman of the Tallahassee Leon County Planning Commission. He also served on Florida A&M University’s Board of Trustees, where he was elected its first Chairman.  

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Collins served as a Senior Political Strategist for the 2008 Obama for America presidential campaign, where he provided leadership on key constituencies in the primary and general elections. Following the general election, Collins was a Public Liaison for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. In 2004, he was a Senior Advisor to the Kerry Presidential Campaign; and in 1990 he served as Campaign Manager for the late Florida Supreme Court Justice, Leander J. Shaw, Jr.  

A graduate of Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry with a baccalaureate degree in accounting and finance, Collins was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2009. He has studied at the University of Miami School of Law and abroad at the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France.  

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Collins resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, youngest son and daughter.