Racquel Saddler is a Vice President in Mercury’s Albany office where she specializes in government relations and public affairs.

She began her professional career as Legislative Counsel and Legislative Director for Senator Velmanette Montgomery, former Chair of the NYS Senate Standing Committee for Children and Families. Through her work assisting in advancing key pieces of legislation and budget priorities with Senator Montgomery, she was able to foster deep rooted relationships with members of the legislature, various state agencies, and not-for-profit entities. This work is the foundation that shapes how she views the role of the advocate in the legislative process.

Most recently, she held the title of Associate Vice President at The Wright Group NY. In this role, she successfully advocated for first-time and increased state funding and policy priorities for non-profit organizations providing critical services to marginalized individuals across the state. through strategic planning and partnership.This experience also afforded her the opportunity to continue to cultivate and nurture relationships with key stakeholders on the local and state level and uplift the importance of community connection in legislative advocacy.

She lives by the words former President Barack Obama told her during her time as a White House Intern, “You get into the line of work you do not to be somebody, you do it to do something. You do what you do to make a difference.”

In her free time, Racquel serves as the membership director for the Albany County Young Democrats, as well as the Black Caucus chair for the New York State Young Democrats.

Racquel graduated from SUNY Albany with a B.A. in political science where she served as an Executive Intern under the Cuomo Administration as well as a New York State Senate Fellow. She also graduated from Albany Law School where she served as the President of the Black Law Student’s Association for two years.