Former mayoral hopeful Derek Green joins Black-owned, lobbying firm

“I am looking forward to bringing my years of legal and government experience to help provide the opportunity for Bellevue to grow and to continue to do the things that I like to do, which is to be entrepreneurial,” Green said.

For example, there is an estimated $1.2 trillion in federal infrastructure dollars available to municipalities, he said. Electric vehicle charging is another area with huge opportunities, Green said.

“There are a number of cities in Pennsylvania and beyond just don’t have the staff or in-house expertise to go after the dollars,” Green said. “This is an opportunity for to me to continue my service. I can help cities go after those dollars that will help them build bridges, roads and other capital needs.”

Mustafa Rashed, Bellevue Strategies president and founder, said Green will help the firm navigate complex regulatory and policy issues that will help it bolster its municipal business.

“We are thrilled about the opportunity to add this level of expertise to our staff,” Rashed said. “We are happy to be able to do more in depth work with our existing clients and to look at new opportunities in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth for people who need help in cities and government.”

“In all our conversations with elected officials Derek has always been someone who understood the myriad of issues on the federal level, the state level and local level,” Rashed said, whether it is taxes, more money for pre-kindergarten, small business lending or zoning.

“As a consulting firm we deal with a lot of different businesses, it important to have someone who understands their business enough to provide them some assistance,” Rashed said.

He also cited Green’s extensive knowledge of the Philadelphia political landscape.

Green, who joined City Council in 2016, was a key player in Council’s work to cut taxes for residents and small businesses and to increase funding for public safety. He also advocated for campaign finance reform in Council.

In 2022, Green resigned from Council to run for mayor, citing his experience as a prosecutor, small business owner and a legislator.

In April, Green suspended his mayoral race saying it was difficult raising campaign funds with the large amount of money being spent on the race, which topped more than $30 million.

Later that month, Green endorsed his former colleague Cherelle Parker, who last Tuesday was elected as the Democratic nominee for mayor.

On Nov. 7, Parker faces Republican David Oh, who was unopposed and is also a former Council member. Both are trying to replace Jim Kenney, who is finishing his second term and by law cannot seek a third consecutive term.

Based in Philadelphia, Bellevue Strategies has offices in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and clients such as Amazon, Delaware River Waterfront Corp., Shift Capital, Upper Darby Township and Uber. Founded by Rashed in 2011, Bellevue specializes in lobbying, advocacy, strategic communications, along with government and public relations.

For his part, Green said that it was important to him that Bellevue Strategies is a Black-owned firm.

“There are too few African-American firms in this space with this capacity,” Green said. “As a former elected official in Philadelphia, who also has relationships around the commonwealth and around the country, it provides an opportunity for me to continue to provide service to those jurisdictions that are looking to address some of the issues and challenges that those cities have.”