2025 Winners: Clayton Cox and Tyler McNeill in Washington, D.C.
For their pro bono work with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
Watch Our Pro Bono Award Video
For the last five years, McGuireWoods Consulting strives to honor team members committed to excellence in pro bono work with the Atkinson-Payne Pro Bono Award.
This year, the firm had many exemplary submissions from team members across three different states and Washington, D.C. These submissions included: North Carolina consultant Harry Kaplan’s work with the Jewish Community Relations Council, Illinois consultant Henry Mohn’s work with Chicago Scholars and Texas consultant Ellie Barmish’s work with the Texas Advocacy Project.
All of these projects resulted in significant wins and positive change for the communities of the team members, including: combating antisemitism in North Carolina, increasing college access in Chicago and connecting domestic abuse survivors to legal aid in Texas.
The 2025 Atkinson-Payne Pro Bono Award is presented to senior vice president Clayton Cox and assistant vice president Tyler McNeill for their stellar work with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
Cox and McNeill along with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation leveraged strategy and their legislative connections to successfully pass a bill funding a commemorative coin for the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps (USMC).
The coin is available for purchase and sales will be used to collect funds for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, specifically the preservation of USMC history through the Nation Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia.
“We would not have been able to do this without the help of Clayton and Tyler from McGuireWoods Consulting,” USMC Maj. Gen. James Lukeman said. “We’re very grateful for the help we got from them to make this happen.”
The continued financial impact of the coin on the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation highlights the importance and commitment to pro bono work at McGuireWoods Consulting.
“I think the value in our pro bono program is it shows that we’re willing to invest in giving back,” assistant vice president Tyler McNeill said. “I have a friend whose dad is a Marine, and when I told him about this project, his eyes just lit up. That showed him that McGuireWoods Consulting doesn’t look at pro bono work as a check mark. It’s a real investment into projects that really give back and impact communities.”
Cox and McNeill credit the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for being action oriented throughout the process. The consultants and Lukeman went door to door on Capitol Hill and gained significant support this way.
“The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation fully trusted McGuireWoods, our expertise and our relationships to get this done,” Cox said.
Lukeman hopes the project sends a message of respect and appreciation to past and present Marines.
“Marines care deeply about where the Marine Corps has been, where it’s going and what it means to be a Marine,” said Lukeman. “So, for Americans to be able to commemorate the 250th anniversary is very special.”
The project has added meaning for Cox, as it is in memory of his grandfather, Cox’s personal hero who was a former Marine.
“He was a bedrock of his community,” Cox said. “He was a great father, a great grandfather and he always credited it to the United States Marine Corps for giving him that sense of purpose, drive and rules for life.”
The project is a testament to the firm’s values, according to senior vice president and director of the federal affairs team Ryan Bernstein.
“Clayton and Tyler’s work really exemplifies what McGuireWoods Consulting is about collaboration, getting results and delivering for our clients,” Bernstein said. “They did an excellent job working for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and highlighting the work that they do not only for our clients, but for the community at large.”
2024 Winner: Jeffrey L. Barnhardt in Raleigh, North Carolina
For his pro bono work with Healing Transitions
McGuireWoods Consulting’s senior vice president Jeff Barnhart was honored this summer with MWC’s Atkinson-Payne Pro Bono Award in recognition of his work with Healing Transitions, a Raleigh-based nonprofit that provides services to people struggling with addiction.
The substance abuse recovery center primarily focuses on Wake County adults who are homeless, uninsured or otherwise underserved. It offers a long-term recovery program, emergency drop-in shelter, nonmedical detox, family support and more — all at no cost.
“Addiction brings a tremendous amount of pain to families and individuals, many times taking precious lives way too young,” said Barnhart. “The real heroes are the people on the front lines doing the tough work every day in the recovery world. Anything I can do to help with their mission, I want to do.”
A former member of the North Carolina Legislature, Barnhart worked to secure more than $5 million in state funding toward Healing Transitions’ capital campaign for facility expansions, which ultimately raised over $23 million. Shortly thereafter, he secured $200,000 per year in operations funding from the state.
Healing Transitions was designed to support 253 people a day between its men’s and women’s campuses. At the end of last year, it averaged 477 people a day. The capital campaign is funding expansions that will help Healing Transitions serve up to 500 people.
“It’s been an absolute game changer for us to have McGuireWoods Consulting involved,” said Healing Transitions executive director Chris Budnick. “It has opened doors and established relationships with folks that we didn’t have relationships with. It has given us visibility; it has given us credibility.”
As a member of its board of directors, Barnhart will continue advocating and performing pro bono work on behalf of Healing Transitions.
Bestowed annually since 2021, McGuireWoods Consulting’s pro bono award is named after the firm’s founding chairman Frank Atkinson and founding president L.F. Payne.
“McGuireWoods Consulting has been built by team members who have a passion for providing top pro bono services to people most in need,” said firm chairman Mark Bowles and president Gov. Jim Hodges. “Our team works with organizations that have been at the forefront of handling society’s most pressing challenges.”
2024 Atkinson-Payne Pro Bono Award Honorees
Kate Zaykowski and Kwame Walker assist Advocates for Community Transitions (ACT) in efforts to garner stakeholder support and block local and state policy that impedes ACT’s work to shut down drug homes in Dallas.
Henry Mohn and Scott Binkley continue their work on behalf of Chicago Scholars to establish connections with Illinois and Chicago political leaders, organize events, provide advocacy support, and help request federal funding.
Billy Boan and Sara Vernon successfully lobbied on behalf of Kershaw Area Resource Exchange, a nonprofit serving residents in a South Carolina four-county region, to fund the purchase of a vacant building to house their clothing closet, food pantry, and merchandise area.
Clayton Cox and Tyler McNeil scored a major victory for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation when President Joe Biden signed the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps Commemorative Coin Act in September 2023.
Ellie Barmish collaborates with McGuireWoods Consulting alumni Amber Hausenfluck to provide legislative advocacy and media relations services for the Texas Advocacy Project, which works to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking in Texas.
James Sherwood leads McGuireWoods Consulting’s pro bono committee, which includes Mark Bowles, Preston Bryant, Lisette Carbajal, Sara Clements, Clayton Cox, Cydney Davis, Amanda Falkenbury, Mark Hubbard, Jim Sheer, Anne Thomas, and Sarah Vernon.