Our Team

Felipe Fuentes is a partner with The Apex Group.  He is a proven and tested leader with nearly twenty years of experience in various capacities with both state and local government.

Felipe most recently served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council. Elected in 2013, he chaired the Energy & Environment Committee, overseeing the Los Angeles Sanitation Bureau and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. He is the author of the LADWP governance reform ballot measure which will be placed before the voters in November, 2016.

In 2007, Felipe was elected in a special election to the California State Assembly where he chaired the Utilities & Commerce, Revenue & Taxation and Appropriations Committees.  He authored and influenced policy decisions in the Legislature spanning every aspect of state government.

Prior to running for the Assembly, Felipe was staff to the Mayor and Council President of Los Angeles. Working in both the legislative and executive branches of local government has given him the education and experience to be successful in public and governmental affairs. He served as Deputy Mayor to Mayor Hahn and Chief of Staff to Councilmember Alex Padilla. Felipe’s early work as staff in the second largest U.S. city allowed him to establish a wide network of allies, operatives and experts across California.

Through his career, Felipe has worked on scores of candidate and issue campaigns. He has a reputation for a “hands on” approach to campaign work, and is literate in polling, media, communications and focus group methodology.

In addition to Felipe’s governmental experience, he has an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, and holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Melanie Perron is a Senior Advocate with The Apex Group and has 20 years of legislative experience in the Legislature, Executive Branch, and local government.

As a twelve-year veteran of Governors Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, and Arnold Schwarzenegger administrations, Melanie has served in key legislative roles at the California State Transportation Agency, California Department of Transportation, Department of Conservation, Department of General Services, and Governor Schwarzenegger’s office.
Melanie served as the Deputy Executive Director of Advocacy for the League of California Cities, overseeing the state and federal advocacy programs and policy development. She also worked on Governor Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign and in the Office of Assemblymember Rick Keene.

Melanie has been a leader in developing and implementing key transportation policy issues, including increased transportation funding through SB 1 (Beall, 2017), expanded multimodal options, innovative transportation solutions, alternative project delivery methods, advanced environmental mitigation authority, and broadband expansion. She also has in-depth knowledge of land-use issues, public works projects, contracting, and procurement.

In addition to Melanie’s experience, she is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Information Systems. She is also a junior varsity high school basketball coach at St. Francis High School in Sacramento and a certified relationship coach through The Relationship School.