NEW YORK (TIP): Dev Awasthi’s lobbying job at the top government relations firm Kasirer isn’t exactly what the general public might think. “It isn’t all waiting in the lobby like the typical lobbyist does and hounding them and bothering them,” he says. “A lot of the time, the job is relationship building and finding those mutual relationships.” Awasthi represents such clients as Mount Sinai and New York-Presbyterian, the Hotel Association of New York City and Google Cloud, assisting them on legislative engagement and building connections.

For example, when a massive fire in a Bronx apartment building killed 19 people in 2022, the surviving residents needed places to stay. The local New York City Council member contacted Awasthi, who in turn connected them with the Hotel Association of New York City. The survivors were immediately housed at hotels.

“A lot of these companies just don’t know who to reach out to or who to communicate with or how to get in front of someone with a great idea or product that can help drive the city forward,” Awasthi says, “and so that’s a lot of what my job is.”

He started at Kasirer as a legal fellow during the coronavirus pandemic, then was hired part time, then full time – and has since received three more promotions. Awasthi previously held a number of city government and campaign roles. He was a staffer for Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign and Barry Grodenchik’s City Council campaign, Grodenchik’s deputy chief of staff and a community liaison for then-City Comptroller Scott Stringer.