Auke joined Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC in 2023 to bring his expertise in federal transportation policy to clients who provide safe, efficient, sustainable transportation. Auke most recently served as the Staff Director of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee in the U.S. House, advocating for robust intercity and commuter passenger rail funding. Prior to that, Auke was the Deputy Staff Director for the Highways and Transit Subcommittee in the U.S. House, specializing in public transit policy. He authored the INVEST Act title for public transit, prioritizing policies that incentivize greater service frequencies, a streamlined bus grant process, expanded zero emission bus funds, and authored a Committee Staff Report that found political delays harming projects in the Capital Investment Grant program. Auke served a total of 23 years for the House of Representatives, the last eight years on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and has survived raising two teenage girls, so far…
Auke Mahar-Piersma - Senior Advisor
Mike Pieper - Senior Advisor
Mike has worked with Cardinal for nearly 10 years assisting with public as well as private sector clients utilizing his experience as a Chief of Staff to a former member of the House Appropriations Committee. With over 35 years of work in federal and state government affairs, Mike served as the lobbyist for the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Nevada Governor’s office after his tenure as staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. His 20 years of experience lobbying at the federal and state levels has developed skills in legislative strategy, messaging, public relations, issue advocacy, coalition building, and grassroots programs. He continues to dream of becoming a ski instructor in the winter and playing on the PGA tour. Fortunately for our clients, he is much more realistic about what can be achieved and how to make their goals a reality.
Karen Stratman - Senior Advisor
Karen joined Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC to provide expertise and assistance in the realm of Federal appropriations and grantmaking, bringing her experience in managing corporate client appropriations requests and liaising with external partners and customers across two Federal agencies. Prior to initiating her consultancy work, Karen served as the Chief of Staff for Montgomery County Public Schools--the nation's 13th largest school system--following senior management roles at the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor across a broad range of government service provisions, including: external affairs, association and stakeholder outreach, grant award and contract management, program management, Fellowship inception and development, legislative policy and interpretation, and grantee technical assistance. Karen travels frequently to enjoy both her lifelong friends in Texas and the mountain climate of Colorado.
Carter E. McCoy - Associate
Carter joined Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC after working for the National Association of Attorneys General in their consumer protection division. Carter has experience in both chambers of the Minnesota State Legislature, the corporate governance and legislative affairs department of a Fortune 100 private company, federal mediation, and regulatory due diligence at the state and federal level. He also did pro-bono work for the Minnesota Colorectal Cancer Research Foundation for three years prior to moving to Washington, DC. At Cardinal, he specializes in legislative monitoring, grant review, and congressional outreach. Carter received his B.A. in Political Science and Communications from the University of Minnesota. He also attended the University of New England where he played lacrosse and fell in love with the coast of Maine.
Jamie Harrell - Government Affairs Advisor
Jamie joined Cardinal after a 23-year career on Capitol Hill; the last 8 years as a staffer on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. His years of experience, both on the committee and personal office staff, bring a trove of knowledge and contacts to meeting clients’ needs as they navigate DC. During his time with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he assisted in shepherding several multi-year authorization bills including the FAST Act and IIJA through Congress. Jamie is skilled in federal policy analysis, issue advocacy, and coalition building. A few years back, Jamie got more seriously back into playing music. He sings and plays guitar in a local band, and feeds his need for pretty new guitars and guitar effect pedals.
Rick Bacigalupo - Senior Advisor
Rick brings deep national transit and transportation experience to Cardinal. He served for 13 years at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) as its federal funding liaison and was responsible for federal legislative advocacy. During that time, he laid the funding and regulatory groundwork for the streetcar program and was the prime advisor to OCTA on FTA funding programs, operating regulations, and regulatory compliance. He has served on the Executive Committee of the California Transit Association, as well as their Legislative Committee and as Chair of their Federal Legislative Subcommittee. Rick spent 20 years in executive management and attorney positions, including as Executive Director of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), RTA’s General Counsel, and Regional Counsel for FTA Region V. He has used public transit his entire life, and takes pride that he has never lived, worked or been a student more than a few blocks from a transportation stop.
Matthew Graham - Policy and Government Affairs Intern
Matthew joined Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC’s team in April 2024 as the Policy and Government Affairs Intern. He is deeply interested in emissions reduction as well as public transit, and these interests led him to pursue a position at Cardinal. Before coming to Cardinal, he worked for D.C. Public Schools as a substitute teacher and as a research assistant at EcoSpark, a Toronto environmental nonprofit. Matthew graduated from the University of Toronto in 2023 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Environmental Studies. In his free time he enjoys playing the trumpet and guitar and exploring D.C.