LATIN TIMES MAGAZINE - 2019 Summer Edition | Page 17

Latina Lideres Awards
Governmental Affairs
Ana Cruz
2019 Latina Mover N Shaker
by: Jolie Gonzalez-Padilla
Ana Cruz currently manages Ballard
Partners’ Tampa practice. She brings over 20
years of experience in lobbying, strategic
communications and political consulting to the
firm. During her career, Ana has represented a
wide array of clients throughout Central Florida
in both the private and the public sectors and
has successfully advocated for several high
profile national and Florida-based clients.
Ballard Partners is recognized as Florida’s
top government relations firm, with
offices in Tallahassee, Miami, Ft.
Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando,
Tampa, and Jacksonville.
Ana has extensive legislative knowledge having
worked in the Florida House of Representatives
and the United States Senate. For the past decade
she has focused on building a strong Central Flori-
da practice representing clients in the development,
sports, and technology arenas.
of the beautiful and tasty traditions of those 4 cultures
brought in our home.
LTM: Tell me about what you do for a living.
Ana Cruz: I am currently the managing partner for
Ballard Partners Tampa Office here. We are the larg-
est Governmental Affairs firm in the state of Florida
and also have an incredibly robust federal practice.
We also have Ballard Media Group which is our stra-
tegic communications, crisis management and is-
sues campaign arm. In our Tampa office specifically
my partner Todd Josko and I have a robust strategic
communications and grassroots advocacy practice
because of our backgrounds in running both Repub-
Ana stays active in local, state and federal politics lican and Democrat campaigns. We started on the
and is often quoted in state and national publications campaign side and honed our skills over 20 years in
and currently serves as a political correspondent for strategic messaging, crisis communications, strategic
Bay News 9, Florida This Week and as a spokesper- positioning and running issue advocacy campaigns.
son for corporate clients.
All of which we currently provide for many of our Bal-
lard Tampa clients. For some clients, like Uber for
LTM: What part of Florida do you live in – are you instance, it was lobby for a change to the local ordi-
from Florida? If not – what brought you to Florida?
nance to allow for new ride share companies to enter
Ana Cruz: I am a very proud 4th generation Tampa this market which was met with great resistance from
native. On my mother’s side my great-great grand traditional vehicles for hire monopolies or simply the
parents came over from Spain and Italy and worked taxi-cab industry.
in the cigar factories in Ybor City. Back then Ybor
was the hub of commerce very much a bustling com- For other clients it’s working on procurement opportu-
munity and residential neighborhood.
nities in the food and beverage industry at the airport
and convention center or developing messaging for
LTM: Tell us about where you were born and raised large transportation projects. I am an advocate for my
and where your family is from.
clients and very much enjoy working on projects that
Ana Cruz: I was born and raised in Tampa at Tampa help strengthen and build TAMPA’S Tomorrow.
General Hospital. My mom was very young at the
time, she was still in high school and her and my dad
had me in 1973. My father’s family is that Mexican Read more at: www.LatinTimesMedia.com
and Puerto Rican dissent and my mother’s family is
of Spanish and Italian descent and we were raised in
a household that celebrating each of those cultures
and heritage so I was very fortunate to experience all
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A braza el calor de tu cultura !
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