When clients need a calm hand and a trusted advocate, they turn to Carolyn Fuller. As a veteran Congressional staffer and now Vice President at VSA, Carolyn has helped shape budget and policy priorities in the areas of research, science and technology, education, literacy and humanities, and advanced computing and networking.
Throughout her career, Carolyn has developed a number of appropriations and authorization proposals, prepared policy papers, and guided appropriations and policy legislation through Congress. She has also been involved in the development of a number of grant applications and in facilitating interactions with appropriate Executive Branch departments and agencies. Carolyn’s work with several higher education coalitions has given her exposure to a range of research and technology issues and she has built relationships with many of the key policy-makers in these areas.
One of Carolyn’s strengths is her ability to identify synergies between client priorities and federal programs, and then cultivating champions to support the initiative. Time and time again, she has helped her client achieve success by ensuring they are meeting with the right person at the right time.
Prior to joining VSA, Carolyn had a distinguished career on Capitol Hill. As professional staff for the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence she worked on a number of science, technology, research, computing and networking, literacy and cultural, and workforce issues. She was the first woman to head an appropriations subcommittee staff, when she took over as Clerk of the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee.
Carolyn received her B.A. from Hollins College in Roanoke, Va., where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Her M.P.A. is from American University in Washington, D.C., and her J.D. is from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
