Kim McDougal*

Kim McDougal*

Kim McDougal*

Senior Government Affairs Consultant

kim.mcdougal@gray-robinson.com

T 850-577-9090
F 850-577-3311
 Tallahassee 301 South Bronough Street Suite 600 Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Practice Areas

Kim is a senior government affairs consultant in GrayRobinson’s Tallahassee office. In addition to Kim's experience as a Florida education lobbyist, she lobbies across a wide range of policy areas on behalf of public and private clients. Kim brings almost three decades of education policy knowledge and experience to the firm's lobbying practice, having served in multiple leadership roles at the Department of Education, including governmental relations director and senior policy advisor for several commissioners of education.

Kim began her public service career with the State of Florida in 1989 as a program auditor with the Office of the Auditor General, and later worked for the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. During her 10-year career with the Florida Legislature, she worked on a wide array of policy areas, but the majority of her policy work focused on K-20 education policy. Kim has worked as a senior advisor or in a leadership role for many of Florida’s education commissioners. She also worked for Governor Bush in several roles within the Executive Office of the Governor, including as the policy coordinator for education in the Office of Planning and Budget.

Most recently, Kim served as chief of staff to Florida Governor Rick Scott. In this role, she was responsible for directly serving and advising the Governor on issues pertaining to 100,000 plus executive branch employees and administered an $83 billion state budget. She also served as Governor Scott’s deputy chief of staff, legislative affairs director, education policy coordinator and as policy advisor during his successful re-election campaign.

* Denotes non-attorney professional  

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  • Education
    • Louise S. McGehee High School
    • Tulane University, B.S.
    • Florida State University, M.S.
    • Florida State University, Ph.D.
  • Professional Associations & Memberships
    • Florida Association of Intergovernmental Relations (FAIR), January 2019
    • Association of Florida Colleges (AFC), January 2019-present
    • Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis’ Transition Advisory Committee
      • Education and Workforce Development, December 2018-January 2019
    • Florida Sports Foundation, December 2018-present
    • Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists
      • Designated Professional Lobbyist
    • Florida Education Legislative Liaisons 
  • Presentations & Seminars
    • Moderator, "Recapping One of the Most Historic Elections in the History of the United States," November 12, 2020
    • Presenter, "Who's in and Who's Out?" Post-Election Pop-Up Forum, August 19, 2020
    • "The Appointments Process," Central Florida Political Leadership Institute, Orlando Economic Partnership, August 13, 2020
    • Moderator, "Kitchen Table Talk on Reopening Florida Schools,” GrayRobinson COVID-19 Virtual Pop-up Forum, June 18, 2020
    • “2020 Legislative Session Wrap Up,” Florida School Boards Association, April 1, 2020
    • Florida Commission on the Status of Women, 2020 LEAD Summit Speaker, March 2020
    • "Advocacy 101," Florida Nurses’ Association Advocacy Days, January 22, 2020
    • "Election Laws for 2020 Legislative Session," Florida School Boards Association, December 4, 2019
    • Central Florida Political Leadership Institute, Orlando Economic Partnership, August 2019 
    • "Getting the Most from Your City’s Contract Lobbyist," FLCities 93rd Annual Conference, August 15-17, 2019
    • "2019 Florida Legislative Review," Jacksonville Session Wrap Up, May 13, 2019
    • "Questions for the Governor’s Office,” Florida State University class Florida Legislative Practice: From Bill Drafting to the Governor's Desk, April 10, 2019
    • "Advocacy 101," Florida Nurses’ Association Advocacy Days, March 13, 2019
    • "Current Education and Political Issues," Florida School Board Association Meeting, November 28, 2018
    • State and Federal Appropriations Presentation “Bringing Home the Bacon," Florida League of Cities, November 15, 2018
    • "Executive Branch Insight—Pulling Back the Curtain," Florida Agency of Professional Lobbyist (FAPL) Retreat, September 5-7, 2018
    • "Facility Security Projects and Emergency Preparedness," Florida School Board Association Summer Conference, 2018
    • "Building the Foundation for Successful Legislative Advocacy," Florida School Board Association Summer Conference, 2018
    • "2018 Florida Legislative Review," Miami Session Wrap Up, April 10, 2018
    • "In Focus: Session 2018," Pensacola Chamber Gopher Club Breakfast, April 6, 2018
    • "Constitution Revision Commission," The Florida Bar's Education Law Committee Meeting, January 19, 2018
    • "Constitution Revision Commission," Florida School Board Association Conference, November 29, 2017
  • Civic
    • Florida Sports Foundation
      • Board of Directors, December 2018
    • Orlando Economic Development Council
      • Political Leadership Institute Class, November 2018
  • E-Lerts & Newsletters
  • Articles & Publications