With the sale of Third Coast International Group in the Spring of 2016, Russell R. Smith spun off Hemisphere Strategies as a boutique domestic consulting practice to provide strategic counsel, advisory services, policy development and education & training for enterprises interested in developing, refining or expanding public sector market opportunities. Rebranded as Cactus Constituency Consulting in 2024, the firm has focused its practice upon working with growth stage and SME sized clientele.
An expert in helping both growth stage & established firms create and expand business opportunities within the public sector space throughout the United States, the Middle East and across East Asia, Smith founded Third Coast International Group in June 2001. He brings over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, global executive, defense, security, counter-terrorism and legislative policy advisor and international public sector consulting executive to his role as Managing Director. His Multi-Modal approach to strategic market development has won wide acclaim from market participants and has delivered repeated success for clients under his management. Cactus Constituency Consulting’s Strategic Training Seminars have now, for the first time, made the Multi-Modal Strategic Approach available to enterprises and organizations in the general business environment across the vertical landscape.
A recognized authority in National Security & International GeoStrategic Policy, Smith has served as an advisor and consultant to numerous Members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, Department of Defense officials, Defense Program Initiatives, DOE & DOD R&D Programs, Flag and General Officers of the United States Armed Forces, Executive Branch Leadership and senior defense officials and uniformed military in several U.S. allied nations as well as major metropolitan law enforcement entities. He has also provided Security and Counter-Terrorism planning and program consulting services to a number of corporate clients. Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Third Coast was active with advisory elements to the Executive Branch to assist working groups with strategic and policy recommendations in the Central Asia and Middle East Theaters of Operations and many of its clients remain actively involved in delivering solutions valuable to our uniformed services worldwide. Working with and advising both public and private sector clients and active with issues and strategic considerations domestically and with allied nations worldwide has given Russell a depth of knowledge and a perspective base uniquely positioned to deliver client value.
His knowledge of the processes required to successfully penetrate public sector and international marketplaces combined with his extensive political, legal community and executive relationships provide the firm's clientele with a unique set of Policy and Strategic capabilities. Throughout his career, Smith has developed & impacted aggregate program values on behalf of his clients that exceed U.S. $7.5 billion and developed and managed projects resulting in over $1.4 billion in Congressionally Directed Funding. He additionally has helped write numerous pieces of federal legislation that have positively impacted policy and business environments for the technology, defense, energy, healthcare and other industries on a wide variety of issues.
Before founding Third Coast in the Spring of 2001, Smith served as an Executive Team Member and Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales for GeoTrust, a leading provider of enterprise authentication and transaction risk management infrastructure for IP enabled supply chains and B2B / B2G transactional platforms. Smith was responsible for the company-wide development and direction of sales, policy and strategic activities and the execution of partnership and channel sales development. Significant successes included the conclusion of major reseller channel agreements with Fortune 50 technology firms and with providers of international electronic trading platforms including the US/Mexico Southwest Border Initiative, numerous B2B exchanges and a major Asian Trade Center Association. At the center of innovation in transactional entity authentication, risk mitigation and security in the IP enabled Global Supply Chain, GeoTrust developed the first insurable and bondable transaction party authentication capability for the high transaction value global B2B/B2G electronic trading platform environment. GeoTrust was acquired by Verisign.
Prior to GeoTrust, Smith served for 4 years as a VP and Practice Group Director at a Top Five Washington, DC government relations & public policy firm where he founded and served as Practice Group Director for the first dedicated Innovation Practice Group in any major DC Government Relations firm. During his tenure, he additionally served as a Co-Director of the firm's Defense and Energy Practice Groups. Clients under his management ranged from startup innovators to major publicly traded defense contractors, financial services firms, information technology companies, energy and infrastructure development firms.
Russell was a key government relations principal active in the early efforts to protect the online delivery of goods & services from legislative and bureaucratic overreach. He was widely credited with development, drafting and advocacy of Language included in H.R. 1 (The Gramm, Leach, Bliley Banking Bill) providing key platform, ISP and hardware liability protections from privacy provisions of the bill, paving the way for online provider and hardware manufacturer indemnification and the unfettered development of eCommerce and online payment platforms.
His work on behalf of innovators in the defense technology, platform development, defense & energy R&D partners, micro devices and life sciences verticals has resulted in Congressionally directed funding to dozens of acquisition, collaborative R&D and year over year program awards across throughout his career.
In another widely recognized and substantive example of Smith’s major policy and funding successes - in working with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and on behalf of the Partnership for a Drug Free America, Russell led efforts that resulted in the successful Congressional direction of $195 Million per year in year over year funding to the first large scale demand reduction effort under the management of ONDCP. These efforts, first initiated in the FY 1998 Appropriations cycle still bear fruit to this day as represented by the continuous funding of public anti-drug media messaging targeting youth and family markets and programs delivered across multiple public messaging environments.
Over the course of his career, Russell has interfaced on a regular basis with Market Makers within the Executive Branch at the Career / SES Level in addition to his extensive network of Presidentially Appointed and Senate Confirmed Executives. Integral to, and as a result of his representation, his clients have met with Cabinet Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, DAS level appointees and West Wing officials in furtherance of their objectives. Often of even greater importance, Smith's ability to create opportunities for his clients to partner with career program heads and managers has been a key part of implementing his Multi-Modal strategies.
He has served on the National Steering Committees and as an outside defense policy adviser for numerous senior Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate, is a Life Member of The National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) and was a DC Finance Vice-Chairman for two Presidential Campaigns. He has also served on the Bi-National Board of Directors of the U. S. - Mexico Chamber of Commerce and was the founding member of the Internet Advisory Committee to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
Smith has also advised the political campaigns & activities of numerous Members of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives as well as several state Governors giving him unique insight into the political process and further expanding relationships and, more importantly, processes of value to our clients.
Russell additionally brings several years of experience in the private sector in the real estate development industry. He has served as an outside business process consultant to a number of startup technology firms and was the co-founder and President of GovernmentSource.com, the first comprehensive Active-X portal to federal and state government online resources. GovernmentSource.com was a precursor to and one of the concept models for solutions such as FirstGov, the current primary comprehensive U.S. federal government online resource.
Smith's Public Speaking appearances have included the University of Chicago School of Business Administration, technology seminars, global security conferences, youth service organizations, college and university athletics groups, numerous business and trade associations and the annual Spring Meeting of the global World Trade Center Association in Seoul, ROK.
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