Team

Stoney is Founder and CEO of The Aquia Group. Prior to launching The Aquia Group, Stoney served as Head of U.S. Federal Affairs for Amazon Web Services.  In this role, he is responsible for leading the U.S Federal team and building out a comprehensive advocacy plan and political operation in support of AWS public policy priorities at the federal level.

Previously, Stoney served as Chief of Staff for Rep. Will Hurd.  During his time as Chief of Staff, twelve pieces of legislation were signed into law, a record for any Member of Congress in such a short period of time.  As Chief of Staff, Stoney also guided the first reelection in a swing, majority Hispanic Texas district that had frequently flipped between Republicans and Democrats.

In addition, Stoney also spent seven years in the private sector as Director of External Affairs at Southern Company.  At Southern, he developed legislative strategies and coordinated external messaging with corporate communications, third party groups, trade associations and think tanks to maximize the strategic reach of policy positions.  Recognized for his leadership abilities, Stoney was selected by the Executive Team at Southern Company to participate in an internal development program that focused on team building and in depth mentoring to better understand the core business units. 

He also worked for two years as a Legislative Assistant for former Rep. Chet Edwards where he was responsible for energy, agriculture, natural resources and trade issues for the then Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman.

He graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in International Studies and Minor in Political Science and also has a Graduate Certificate in Advanced International Affairs with an Intelligence Emphasis from The Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Stoney serves as Board Chair of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and also serves on The Texan By Nature Advisory Council, a 501c3 founded by Mrs. Laura Bush designed to enhance partnerships between business and the conservation community.

Ryan is a Partner at The Aquia Group. He is a trusted legal and policy professional with more than a decade of experience advising and representing companies on some of today’s most challenging and critical issues. 

Most recently,  Ryan served as the Head of Competition for AWS Americas where he led the development and support of public policy positions on competition and content moderation, at a time when the technology sector faced significant scrutiny. Ryan helped position AWS as  a thought leader on cloud policy through advocating with policymakers, leading innovative research and reports on the cloud industry with third-party organizations, and building coalitions to support key vital policy initiatives. Ryan also helped coordinate  with colleagues in Europe and the Asia-Pacific on regulatory inquiries and the global impact of legislation like the European Union’s Digital Markets Act and DATA Act. 

Prior to  AWS, Ryan served as the Chief Antitrust and Bankruptcy Counsel to the U.S. Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary, where he was responsible for congressional legislation and hearings covering a broad set of issues, including antitrust, privacy, content  moderation, and bankruptcy.  In just four years, Ryan successfully crafted and ushered the enactment of over a dozen significant pieces of bipartisan and bicameral legislation.This included the first comprehensive bankruptcy reform in over 15 years, a new  streamlined process for generic drug development, targeted emergency relief for businesses impacted by COVID, and the EARN IT Act to combat online child exploitation. His work on the Small Business Reorganization Act was recognized by the American Bankruptcy  Institute who named him to their 40 under 40 list.

After graduating  from Miami of Ohio and Notre Dame Law School, Ryan worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, one of the foremost global law firms, advising on several multi-billion dollar restructurings across industries, including technology, energy, and sports media. Ryan also co-taught  a class in distressed dealmaking at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and has authored several articles on a range of topics.

Austin is a Principal at The Aquia Group. He joins the firm after nearly a decade of government service at the highest levels of Congress and the Executive Branch, where he helped shape decisions on many of the most important issues facing the nation.

Prior to joining Aquia Group, Austin was the Director of Oversight, Parliamentarian, and Senior Advisor to the House Appropriations Committee, where he helped craft and shepherd the Committee’s 12 annual appropriations bills into law and, prior to that role, was responsible for overseeing roughly $21 billion in spending across many technology-related accounts. 

Austin has also served as the Staff Director for the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation Subcommittee on the House Committee on Homeland Security, where he led the Committee’s bipartisan work on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and helped craft the first industry-wide national cyber incident reporting law, and many others.  

In the Executive Branch, Austin served as a Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Policy, where he helped manage government-wide responses to some of the most pressing challenges facing the country by serving as a conduit between all 23 Executive Departments and Agencies and the White House.  Austin also served as the Legislative Liaison for National Telecommunications Information Agency (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce.

In the Office of Representative Will Hurd, Austin served as Legislative Director and led all artificial intelligence, technology, cybersecurity, energy, and appropriations issues and was awarded the Federal 100 award in 2018 for his work drafting and passing the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act which created the Tech Modernization Fund (TMF). 

Austin has a degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where he ran track and worked on several local and federal campaigns.