JOSH MCCLINTOCK 

Josh McClintock is a Managing Partner at EMBLEM Strategies, LLC, bringing to the firm over two decades of government, business and non-profit expertise. He also serves as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Ground Water Association, where he manages the day-to-day operations of the association, and advocates on behalf of Oklahoma’s groundwater industry with Congress and the Oklahoma Legislature. Josh has developed extensive expertise in the complex arenas of strategic economic development, project management and administration, and water resources policy development and implementation.

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Josh previously held the position of Director of External Affairs for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, where he was the primary point of contact with the Oklahoma Legislature, Oklahoma’s Congressional Delegation, and municipalities across the state. He also coordinated numerous community and industry outreach efforts of the OWRB and represented the agency on national and statewide water policy organizations.

 

Before returning home to Oklahoma to open his own government affairs consulting practice, Josh worked as the Legislative Director in the Washington, DC office of former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr., where he was responsible for the coordination and management of the congressman’s policy initiatives for Oklahoma. Prior to serving on Congressman Watts’s legislative staff in Washington, Josh worked as a field representative on the congressman's campaign and as a caseworker in his Norman, Oklahoma congressional office. Upon Watts’s retirement from Congress, Josh was brought in as Director of Government Relations at Capitol Decisions, a member firm in Washington, DC’s largest independent government affairs group. During his tenure in Washington, Josh was instrumental in securing authorization and funding for a broad range of projects including tornado recovery efforts in Moore, the National Weather Center in Norman, the Interstate 40 Crosstown in Oklahoma City, the Reed Center in Midwest City, as well as community infrastructure improvements in Altus, Durant, Lawton, Woodward, Norman, and other communities throughout Oklahoma.

 

Josh lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with his wife, Sara, and their two teenage daughters. A graduate of Leadership Edmond’s Class 31, he is actively involved in his local community. Josh currently serves on the Edmond Capital Improvement Projects Advisory Board, making recommendations to the City Council on local capital improvement projects. He also serves on the President’s Council of Advisors for the University of Central Oklahoma, which was formed to invite the perspective and experience of leaders in business, education, government, and industry into a regular open exchange of feedback and ideas aimed at helping shape university strategy toward workforce development and community engagement. Josh previously served on the Edmond Public Works Committee. 

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Josh currently serves on the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center’s State Advisory Board. He is also serving as Chairman of the South-Central Regional Policy Committee and as State Liaison Representative on the Government Affairs Committee for the National Ground Water Association. He is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma’s Class 31 and serves on the LOK Development Committee. His previous service includes the Western Oklahoma State College Foundation Board of Trustees and the Oklahoma Champions for Early Opportunities Advisory Board, as well as the Boards of Directors for the Oklahoma Messages Project, the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, the Interstate Council on Water Policy, and the Western Oklahoma State College Alumni Association. He was also selected for The Journal Record’s Achievers Under 40 Class of 2015.

 

A Southwest Oklahoma native, Josh is a graduate of Western Oklahoma State College in Altus and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He holds a Community Development Block Grant Administrator certification from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and is currently pursuing coursework toward a Federal Grants Management Certificate from Management Concepts in Washington, DC, as well as a Drilling Basics Certification from the National Ground Water Association and Oklahoma State University.