Founded by A. Mario Castillo, The Aegis Group is a diverse team of bipartisan political and legislative professionals with years of combined professional experience working in various Administrations, Congress and state government. Aegis' unique perspective and approach to government and public relations has led to a record of all wins and no losses. Aegis' networks and contacts span the political spectrum and transcend political affiliations, enabling its team to adapt freely to changes in government.
The team's knowledge base allows Aegis to defend client interests in a myriad of arenas. Aegis recognizes that businesses are impacted by a variety of market factors. These factors can be macro (external) which include political, legal, and social-cultural elements. Or they can be micro (internal) factors such as customers, competitors, and suppliers. Armed with this knowledge, Aegis creates and implements precedent-setting policy and business strategies to safeguard the financial well-being of its clients.
A. Mario Castillo founded Aegis after having served as chief of staff of the Committee on Agriculture of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mario's experiences while serving the Committee have contributed to Aegis' ability to protect, and/or augment, clients' national and global commercial holdings in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, food commodities, retail, travel and tourism.
No stranger to complex negotiations, Mario successfully negotiated and established the first intercollegiate agreement between a Czech Republic university and a prominent American university, Texas A&M University. Under the auspices of President Havel, Mario successfully negotiated commercial ventures between American and Czech interests in diverse commercial arenas.
Additionally, he has served as a Commissioner of the Arts and Humanities for the District of Columbia. Through the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, he developed the Larry Neal/Pen Faulkner Writers Conference for the eastern seaboard, a landmark effort to bring together writers of all races in a working environment. He has served as Chairman of the Friends Council of The National Museum of Women in the Arts of Washington, D.C. He is a former member of the board of directors of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in San Angelo, Texas.
As a leading-edge educator in Texas, Mario was the recipient of the Ford Foundation's "Washington Internships in Education." He was named by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as one of the top 25 Hispanic leaders in the United States. And, served as a Congressional delegate to The Ditchley Foundation’s conference in Oxford, England, on International Problems of Supply and Demand in Agriculture. As a result of his many professional accomplishments and his philanthropic endeavors, Angelo State University, located in San Angelo, Texas, awarded Mario its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Mario was appointed at the end of 2004 by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as a board member for the Texas Small Business Industrial Development Corporation (TSBIDC), which was created by the Texas Legislature to provide low cost, long-term financing for Texas corporations and to support infrastructure financing (including job training) to Texas communities. TSBIDC has a multi-million dollar lending portfolio. In January 2007, Mario was named Chairman and President of the Corporation and continues to serve in that capacity. TSBIDC Program Overview and FAQ Sheet.
Matthew D. Milhauser, Political Affairs Manager, the Aegis Group, Ltd.
Prior to working with the Aegis Group, Ltd., Mr. Milhauser served as political advisor for various political officials in Texas. During this time, he assisted with the planning and development of various economic development initiatives. In 2008, Mr. Milhauser served as a city representative, of San Angelo, Texas, assisting in the facilitating of Texas State Historical Commissioners and other key Texas State officials to draft legislative initiatives for community economic development by the Texas State Legislature.
In addition, Mr. Milhauser developed and coordinated community functions for various municipalities in Texas, managed strategic voter outreach programs and targeted media campaigns and assisted in diplomatic missions to Washington, DC for state university interests. During a 2009 emergency mayoral election in Texas, Matt assembled and managed a team of skilled political professionals on behalf of an Aegis client in campaign areas including: media strategy, speech writing, voter outreach initiatives, ground strategies for prospective voter acquisition, data and polling analysis, social media integration, etc.
Currently, Mr. Milhauser provides expertise in traditional and digital communications and new media integration for Aegis’ political and business clients. Working with senior Aegis staff, he is active in assessing client needs and service delivery options. Additionally, Matt oversees the development of online public campaigns that target state and Federal agency officials as well as elected officials on behalf of the firm’s clients. Working closely with Aegis’ CEO Mario Castillo, Mr. Milhauser assists in identifying business development initiatives for the firm.
Mr. Milhauser received his BBA in Management Information System (Magna Cum Laude) from Angelo State University (San Angelo, Texas) and his Masters in Strategic Legislative Affairs from The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.). Matt is an active alumnus of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and is also an inducted, lifetime member of the prestigious Alpha Lambda Delta and Alpha Chi National Honors Societies.
Valerie R. Beesley, Public Relations Manager, The Aegis Group, Ltd.
Valerie brings over six years experience at New York City public relations agencies, specializing in consumer, health, wellness and nonprofit media relations and account management. Ms. Beesley provides strategic media relations on behalf of business and political clients.
Prior to joining the Aegis Group, Ltd, as an Account Supervisor at Rubenstein Public Relations, Ms. Beesley led national and local public relations campaigns for consumer and non-profit clients, securing media placements for such clients as Kids of Courage, the Byron Janis Project, City Harvest, the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance, the Mount Sinai Department of Orthopaedics and spirits brands including Sopranos Wines and MEDEA vodka.
Previously, as Account Executive in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, Ms. Beesley managed national and international consumer awareness initiatives for such clients as Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly. Before joining Weber Shandwick, Ms. Beesley began her career at Cohn & Wolfe supporting GlaxoSmithKline’s public relations initiatives, including the international release of landmark research and ground-breaking work in the field through entertainment media integrations with NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.”
Her clients have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Today Show, CNN, Fox News, InStyle, Us Weekly, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Post, the New York Daily News and many more. Ms. Beesley received her Bachelor of Arts from Angelo State University, graduating with a dual major in History and Communications with secondary teaching certification and her Master of Science in Public Relations from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Enrique E. Figueroa, Adjunct Advisor, brings to Aegis a multifaceted background. His career has led him from academia to public service and back again. He holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from UC-Davis.
Dr. Figueroa has served as staff economist for the Committee on Agriculture, U.S. House of Representatives, and as Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service and Deputy Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through his work for Congress and the Administration, Dr. Figueroa gained a unique perspective in the relationship between the two branches of government and insights in how to navigate the labyrinth of their decision making processes.
Dr. Figueroa has held academic postings at Cornell University and is currently serving as the Director of the Roberto Hernandez Center and Assistant to the Provost for Latino Affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM). Dr. Figueroa has served on the board of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation and was a member of the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
James P. Eichstadt, Senior Manager of Public Affairs and Trade Policy for Aegis and the head of the Madison, Wisconsin field office, is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the agricultural, trade, transportation and energy sectors. He has worked in a bipartisan manner on a wide range of complex domestic and international issues and played a leading role in the development of coalitions to advance clients’ interests. Prior to joining Aegis, Jim worked with rail transport, water policy and energy issues affecting northern states bordering Canada.
Jim has extensive expertise in dealing with news media on a state, national and international level. He excels in communicating complex policy issues in concise, user-friendly terms to diverse audiences, including agricultural producers, consumers, the news media, lawmakers, and executive and regulatory officials. Internationally, he has been interviewed by the BBC World Service and by several Japanese news organizations as an expert source on trade negotiations.
Jim was appointed to a three-year term on the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade, the senior-level industry group advising the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative on critical agriculture trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. He participated as an official U.S. advisor at the Seattle Ministerial Conference in 1999 and as a non-governmental organization representative at the Singapore Ministerial and Geneva Ministerial WTO conferences held in 1996 and 1998, respectively.