Former Richmond CAO Lincoln Saunders lands public affairs, consulting gig

Lincoln Saunders, right, with Jay Smith at Capital Results’ Shockoe Bottom office. (Jonathan Spiers photos)

Two months after exiting City Hall, Lincoln Saunders has landed his next gig.

The former chief administrative officer for Richmond recently joined Capital Results, a downtown public affairs and business consulting firm, as senior director of local public affairs.

The position was created for Saunders, who will be working to expand Capital Results’ client base to include government entities and other public-sector organizations, said partner Jay Smith, who recruited Saunders to the firm.

Having worked with Saunders on opposite sides of the table while representing companies involved in such projects as the Diamond District and Allianz Amphitheater, Smith said he saw an opening for Capital Results to expand its reach to public-sector clients when he learned that Saunders was departing City Hall.

“When I found out that he was moving on to the next chapter, I talked to him and said, ‘Well, throw Capital Results in your list of options,’” said Smith, who has helped lead the firm since it formed over 25 years ago.

“Through that interaction, I came to recognize Lincoln not only takes on a challenge and gives it everything he’s got, but he took the time to try to figure out what the person on the other side of the table needs,” Smith said. “What I saw from businesses we represent is that they could benefit from having somebody who knows firsthand, intimately, what government needs and is looking for.”

For Saunders, who started March 3, the role is a return of sorts to the public affairs and advisory roles he had in state government before entering City Hall in 2017, when he joined Levar Stoney as the newly elected mayor’s chief of staff.

Saunders last year meeting with restaurant owners about meals tax collection issues. (BizSense file photo)

Previously, Saunders was chief of staff and policy advisor to Dorothy McAuliffe, wife and First Lady of Virginia of then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Prior to that, Saunders – a William & Mary grad with a master’s in public affairs from Indiana University Bloomington – held a variety of roles in state-level politics and was a public affairs director for a now-defunct grocery delivery service.

Having spent eight years in Richmond city government, the last four as CAO, Saunders said he brings a perspective and experience that will help local governments across Virginia with crisis communications and at the negotiating table for economic development projects.

“If there’s one thing I know intimately, it’s that local governments and regional orgs generally are not as resourced as they would need to be both to strongly communicate with their communities when the big things are happening…or when it comes to moving a major project forward,” Saunders said.

At Capital Results, Saunders joins a team of about 20 that includes a few folks he rubbed elbows with in state government, such as Bea Gonzalez and Rob Shinn. The firm was founded in 1999 by Julie Rautio and is headquartered at 50 Pear St., a former garage for the adjacent Lucky Strike complex that the firm bought and made its office in 2007.

Capital Results’ office at 50 Pear St., beside the Lucky Strike complex.

Smith said Saunders’ new role will be a change in approach for Capital Results, which up to now has focused on government consulting for private-sector clients.

“We’ve typically been on the private sector side helping to influence government, but I think the public sector deserves the same advocacy and representation that companies, the business side, have enjoyed,” Smith said.

Added Saunders: “A lot of times, given that a business may not be super-familiar with local government or a local government may not be familiar with that business’s model and needs, having somebody who can translate in the middle so that negotiations don’t break down but you solve for the priorities of both sides, that’s how things get done.”

Saunders is the latest Richmond official to move over to the private sector in recent years.

Last year, Maritza Pechin, a former city planner who helped steer the Diamond District, joined Thalhimer Realty Partners, the mixed-use project’s lead developer. Others have included former planner Lory Markham, now at One South Commercial, and former economic development head Lee Downey, now at Hunton Andrews Kurth.

Since his last day at City Hall, Saunders, 40, said he has spent part of the time traveling with his family – and catching up on rest.

Laughing, Saunders said, “I will say I’m sleeping better. I’m a little more rested than my days at the city.”

Asked if the change from inside to outside City Hall will be a challenge with his new job, Saunders said his interest is in helping Richmond however he can.

“I will always be here for anything my former colleagues with the city need or anything I can do for the city in any capacity,” he said. “I think Richmond has got so much positive progress ahead of it. I think it’s a city that’s on the rise. I’m proud of what we were able to do to put it on that path and this trajectory.”

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