About David Powers

David M. Powers is the managing principal of Powers Strategies LLC, a full-service government relations firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.

​

Powers has a lifetime of involvement in political issues and at the highest levels of corporate government affairs. Before starting Powers Strategies, he spent over 20 years managing public affairs for Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Reynolds American – eight at the helm of the company’s state relations efforts.  After retiring from Reynolds American in 2015, Powers started his own public affairs firm.

​

Prior to his career at Reynolds, Powers served in President George H.W. Bush’s administration as a Special Assistant to HUD Secretary Jack F. Kemp, serving as a liaison between the Secretary’s office and state and local elected officials.

​

Powers recently wrapped up twelve years of service on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the policy-making and governing body of the 17-campus public university system.  The University of North Carolina is recognized as one of the leading lights in public higher education.  For his service on the Board of Governors, Powers was recognized with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian honor.  He currently serves on the North Carolina State University Board of Trustees.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership and the Institute for Digital Engineering.

​

He’s a member of the United States Business Associates, an organization of committed business and public affairs executives who work to foster stronger ties with European countries through spirited engagement with European business leaders on issues relating to education, commerce and public affairs.  The group regularly holds engagement meetings in different European countries.

 

A native of St. Pauls, North Carolina, Powers is a 1983 graduate of North Carolina State University (Bachelor of Arts in Economics) and a 1988 graduate of Campbell University (Master of Business Administration). He also completed the University of Virginia Darden School’s Emerging Political Leaders program.