PSG Team

John Hawkins

President & CEO

As the founder of PSG, John Hawkins draws on more than 25 years experience in the Greater Philadelphia public policy arena to get great results for his clients. Prior to launching PSG in January 2019, he was Vice President for City Relations at Wojdak Government Relations, one of Pennsylvania’s premier lobbying firms. John oversaw all issues in Philadelphia’s City Hall and successfully represented large corporations, developers, regional associations, universities, and non-profits for fourteen years.

Before Wojdak, John served as a legislative assistant and drafted and analyzed municipal and state legislation over six years for then-Councilman Jim Kenney and the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee. In the 1990s, John worked on various city and state political campaigns, and spent three years as the Research Director for the Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia’s “government watchdog” organization.

John holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, where for thirteen years he was an instructor on urban politics and municipal government at Penn’s Fels Institute of Government. He lives in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he serves on the executive board of the East Falls Development Corporation. He swears he is much better at lobbying than he is at dyeing his youngest daughter’s hair (although he is getting pretty good at that too).

Kyle Darby

Senior Consultant

Kyle Darby has nearly ten years of lobbying experience for several well-regarded state and national government relations firms, as well as his own, and has previously gained experience in the United States Senate and in New Jersey politics. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Temple University and recently completed an Executive Education Certificate in Strategic Leadership from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government while also serving as a senior policy advisor to the campaign of Cherelle Parker, the Democratic nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia. Kyle lives in South Philadelphia with his son and grew up in Camden County, NJ. You can learn more about Kyle at: darbyps.com

Disha Dhananjay

Research Assistant

Prior to joining Darby Public Strategies and Philadelphia Strategies Group, Disha Dhananjay interned for Pennsylvania State Senator Maria Collett and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, where she was introduced to state and national politics and gained experience in constituent services. Disha is currently an undergraduate student at Drexel University, where she is studying law with a minor in business administration. At Drexel she is involved in the Undergraduate Student Government Association, which bridges the communication gap between students and administration to drive change on campus. Disha is from Bucks County, PA.