Margaret Ballard

Board Member
Norfolk, VA
President, Margaret Ballard Consulting

Margaret Ballard is president of Margaret Ballard Consulting, a Norfolk-based political strategy, media relations and advocacy firm. She was previously vice president, advocacy, for the Retail Alliance, the Hampton Roads retail merchants association, as well as a government relations representative for the statewide Virginia Retail Federation. Retail Alliance and the Virginia Retail Federation are the voice of retailers on the local, state and federal legislative fronts, and in her position, Ballard played a key role in representing retailers, primarily small businesses. She brought considerable association/nonprofit experience to the job, with experience in legislative and marketing campaigns, business management, sales, media relations and community relations. She joined the Retail Alliance in 1998 as director of partnership development and was promoted to the advocacy position in 2003. Prior to this, she was executive director of USAA’s DRIVE SMART Hampton Roads program for five years and a founder of DRIVE SMART Virginia, a statewide non-profit. She has also held positions as marketing director for the Scott and Stringfellow investment firm, vice president of a financial public relations agency and legislative director for a U.S. congressman.  Ballard is very active in the community, having served on the boards of Keep Virginia Beautiful and as treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau Research and Training Foundation. She has also served on the boards of the D’Art Center of Hampton Roads and Norfolk United Facing Race. Ballard has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.