A letter from Emily
This year felt like sprinting up a mountain in the middle of a landslide.
Boulders come from every direction. The ground shifts underfoot. The route changes faster than you can redraw the map. And still, you keep climbing.
For many of our clients, partners, and team members, 2025 was one of the most challenging years of our careers. Uncertainty shaped nearly every decision. Change arrived quickly and often. Loss and opportunity existed side by side. At times, it felt like the rules rewrote themselves in real time.
And yet, here we are. Still climbing.
Progress does not require certainty. It requires preparation, courage, and knowing when to move.
Navigating a Shifting Landscape
Every landscape is navigable, even one defined by landslides, if you know how to read it and how to move.
In Washington this year, the ground never stopped shifting. Funding proposals changed drastically. Priorities moved abruptly and sometimes silently. Political pressure points appeared and disappeared with little warning. In moments like that, progress does not come from waiting for clarity. It comes from preparation, pattern recognition, and decisive action.
You start with the right gear.
For our clients, that meant entering the year with clear priorities, disciplined asks, and bipartisan strategies built to flex as conditions changed. It meant durable outerwear in the form of strong stakeholder support from diverse voices. It meant carefully honed messaging designed to gain political traction, like well-placed crampons and ice picks.
Then you study the geology.
That meant understanding which committees and individuals held real leverage, where bipartisan agreement could be built, and which offices could move legislative language when others could not. It also meant anticipating how conditions might shift when the mountain became unstable.
Next, you map the route.
When the path forward narrowed, we identified safe outcroppings and ways to widen support. Sometimes that meant banding together with unlikely allies who shared interests and deep roots. Often, it required building new bipartisan bridges to cross unsafe terrain.
You also know when to move fast and when to take cover.
At key moments, we went on offense and sprinted to gain ground. At others, we worked quietly behind the scenes to shield priorities and prevent harmful language or unintended consequences. Both approaches mattered. Timing mattered most.
Most importantly, experience is critical when the mountain starts to move.
Climbing mountains like these requires an experienced guide who knows the gear, the terrain, and the route, and who has the instincts and relationships to get you safely to the top.
Why Partnership Matters
This landscape is complex, political, and unforgiving. Without deep knowledge of the system, the people, and the unwritten rules, it is easy to make mistakes that slow progress or create new problems.
At ESP Advisors, we help our clients prepare for the climb. We identify risks early. We forecast what is coming. We chart routes that balance ambition with realism so our clients can move faster, smarter, and with confidence, while avoiding costly missteps.
That preparation paid off this year.
Our champions in Congress and partners across the administration stepped up because trust already existed. Relationships built long before this moment held when pressure rose. Members spoke out, signed letters, advanced bills, and defended priorities when doing so required real effort in a chaotic environment.
Together, we made meaningful progress in a year defined by uncertainty and rapid change.
We secured record bipartisan support for our clients’ priorities through legislation and funding advocacy, sending clear signals to leadership about momentum behind ocean and science policy.
Our clients maintained or grew their appropriations even as overall funding declined. We played a central role in drafting eight bills on behalf of our clients. Six were introduced with broad bipartisan support. Three advanced through committee. One passed the House. Two more are positioned for early, bipartisan introduction next year because we wrote them for the terrain ahead.
That is what navigating a shifting landscape looks like in practice. It is intentional. It is informed. It reflects a deep understanding of how Washington actually works.
Every landscape is navigable. You do not have to navigate it alone.
The People Behind the Work
This year marked a period of real growth for ESP Advisors.
We added four new team members in 2025 and will welcome two more in early 2026. Each strengthened not only our expertise, but also our culture. They brought curiosity, leadership, and the ability to lead with empathy when the stakes run high.
The year tested us. Friday nights often came with anxiety as we waited for news drops. We spent long days and nights debating strategy and helping clients navigate unprecedented uncertainty.
What carried us through was how we showed up. For each other. For our clients. For the broader community. We led with clarity. We named hard moments honestly. We allowed vulnerability to sit alongside confidence.
We built this firm to do hard things well. The strongest teams climb together, especially when the path gets steep.
ESP Advisors is a place where excellence and humanity reinforce each other. A place where growth belongs to the whole team.
Looking Ahead to 2026
The terrain will keep shifting in 2026. That is the only thing that is certain.
We enter the new year stronger, more experienced, and more intentional than ever. Our team continues to grow. Our perspective continues to sharpen.
The mountain ahead remains steep. We know it well, and we’re ready to keep climbing.
To our clients, partners, champions, and team members, thank you for trusting us, pushing us, and climbing alongside us this year.
Here’s to steadier footing, clearer paths, and continued progress in 2026.
Emily Patrolia
