Brian Diffell
Ridge Path Strategies is a boutique advocacy and strategic advisory firm that works across many areas of policy, including international trade, export controls, foreign policy, defense policy, tax issues, and technology.
Brian Diffell founded Ridge Path Strategies after more than two decades of combined government and private sector experience. His twelve-year career as a congressional aide to Roy Blunt brought him experience in both the House and Senate leadership during stints in the majority and the minority. After leaving Capitol Hill in 2013, Brian lobbied on tax and trade policy during major legislative battles spanning three administrations.
During his government career, Brian worked across all areas of public policy. In his time in the House Republican leadership, Brian served as a key liaison with the Bush Administration on national security policy, including preparing and implementing legislative strategies related to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and worked to secure passage of President Bush’s ambitious trade policy agenda.
The experience of working in both the House and Senate leadership and the contacts he maintains with senior leadership and committee staffers in both parties provide unparalleled insight into the actions of the House and Senate at the highest levels of decision-making. During his Capitol Hill career, Brian served as the lead House Majority Whip policy staffer during the narrow passage of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR CAFTA) in 2005, lead House majority staffer in negotiating and passing the Iran Sanctions Act of 2006, lead House Republican staffer on bipartisan negotiations leading to the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008, and lead Senate Republican staffer on bipartisan negotiations leading to the passage of free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama in 2011.
In the private sector, his lobbying successes include securing key provisions for clients during congressional consideration of the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as well as scoring wins and protecting client interests from legislative threats during the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. During the COVID emergency, Brian served as a go-to strategist for clients across the spectrum as they worked to protect their interests in a frenetic legislative environment.
Brian’s unique legislative experience makes him one of the few former staffers with policy, political, and strategic experience across both the House and Senate in both the majority and the minority. Brian has always worked easily and successfully across the party aisle and has strategized on all aspects of the policy-making process, including communications, floor strategy, Member management, and political dynamics. He brings the same attitude toward getting things done on behalf of clients, even in the difficult Washington political environment we face today.
Madison Smith
Madison brings more than a decade of combined public and private sector political experience to the firm. His policy and political background spans a wide-range of issues, including emerging technology, trade, foreign affairs and transportation.
Prior to joining Ridge Path, Madison spent three years as the technology practice co-lead and as a senior lobbyist at the consulting arm of an AmLaw top 100 law firm. Madison began his private sector career at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he served as an in-house lobbyist and adviser, and was responsible for managing and orchestrating the company’s engagement with Senate Republicans.
Before making the jump to private practice, Madison spent nearly eight years on Capitol Hill in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. In the U.S. Senate, Madison served as a policy adviser to then-Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), the second-highest-ranking member in GOP leadership. As Staff Director of the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on International Trade, Madison planned and executed a robust legislative and oversight agenda that included working alongside the first Trump administration on the U.S.-China Phase I trade deal, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, and multiple Sec. 232 and 301 investigations.
During his Senate tenure, Madison was responsible for guiding more than six pieces of legislation into law, including a $50 billion supplemental appropriations package for Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, CFIUS modernization reform (FIRRMA), and the the Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act, which modernized U.S. ports of entry and increased cross-border commerce.
In the House of Representatives, Madison spent four years as an aide to two Texas members of Congress, former Rep. Will Hurd (R) and Rep. Roger Williams (R). Madison’s work as technology policy adviser to Rep. Hurd helped position the Congressman as a national thought leader on cybersecurity and emerging technology issues, and led Madison’s selection by his peers as a one of Federal Computer Weekly’s “Federal 100” in 2017, following the introduction (and later passage) of the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act. Madison’s Capitol Hill career began in 2012 when he served as an aide to Congressman Roger Williams, first working as a field representative for his congressional campaign in Texas.
Madison is a native of Austin, Texas and earned his B.S. in political science with a minor in communications from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ngoc Nguyen
Ngoc joins the firm with over 15 years of experience in both federal and state politics, with a focus on campaign operations and strategic research. Her deep background in California politics is complemented by strong relationships across the House Democratic Caucus and across the aisle, working effectively with both progressive and moderate offices. She brings a strategic, solutions-oriented approach to complex policy challenges.
Most recently, Ngoc served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman Lou Correa (D-CA-46), leading all policy initiatives, including the Congressman’s work on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee during his time as Ranking Member of the Antitrust Subcommittee and Chair of the Border Subcommittee. In addition, she served as the office’s liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, and the Blue Dog Coalition. Ngoc’s policy portfolio spanned the financial services, housing, labor, national security and defense, trade, and transportation and infrastructure policy verticals.
As Rep. Correa’s sole appropriations staffer, her efforts secured a 100% passage rate for Community Project Funding across four consecutive fiscal years, channeling hundreds of millions in federal resources to state and local projects throughout the district. Ngoc also led the office’s legislative agenda and advanced bipartisan priorities such as the incorporation of the Homeland Procurement Reform Act and the DRONE Act into the annual National Defense Authorization Act, both of which were signed into law. She also secured House passage of legislation such as the Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act.
Ngoc began her career on Capitol Hill in the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, where she managed a legislative portfolio that included immigration, education, foreign affairs, and agriculture, as well as the Congressman’s work on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she led the congressional effort to expand the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot (OPP), helping scale the program from a limited number of states to 45 states and Washington, DC by September 2020.
During her time in California, Ngoc managed party messaging for the California Democratic Party. In Sacramento, she served on the communications and campaign team, where she led and directed opposition and donor research. She was part of the team that contributed to the 2016 shift in voter registration across all 10 Southern California counties from red to blue.
A native of Orange County, California, Ngoc earned her B.S. in Political Science, with a concentration in Middle East Studies, from the University of California, Irvine.
Angela Gibson
Angela Gibson is Chief of Staff at Ridge Path where she manages firmwide operations, compliance, and strategic initiatives. She plays a key role in driving efficiency, ensuring regulatory adherence, and supporting the delivery of exceptional client service. Angela brings over a decade of experience in human resources, project management, and leadership experience, gained at leading defense contractors, a global investment management firm, and a prominent technology trade association.