Mr. Willis is Principal of The
Willis Group, LLC, a lobbying firm located on the historic Green in Dover,
DE. He is a former State Representative
in the Delaware General Assembly. A
lifelong love of politics, an education in government and law, and a reputation
for bipartisanship and integrity among his legislative colleagues led to the
foundation of The Willis Group, LLC.
He grew up in his family's
central Delaware automobile business, which began as a single point Chevrolet
dealership in 1951. After college, he worked in the dealerships as a manager
before founding The Willis Group, LLC.
In 2012, Mr. Willis was invited
to become a Fellow in the Aspen Institute’s Aspen-Rodel Fellowship in Public
Service. This two-year nonpartisan
educational program is comprised of twenty-four elected officials from all
levels of government across the country. The program is designed to “bring together elected officials who have
demonstrated an outstanding ability to work responsibly across partisan
divisions and bring greater civility to public discourse.”
He was also a Fellow in
Leadership Delaware. The mission of
Leadership Delaware is to recruit and mentor young Delawareans who have
demonstrated exceptional leadership in the community, nonprofit, political,
professional, and corporate sectors in Delaware.
A cum laude graduate of Dartmouth
College, Mr. Willis
earned his Bachelor's Degree in Government. He graduated from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of
William & Mary. During law school,
he served as a Law Clerk to then Chief Justice Myron T. Steele of the Delaware
Supreme Court. He was admitted to the
Delaware Bar in 2006.
Mr. Willis brings a strong
commitment to community service in both his business and personal endeavors. Mr. Willis has served on several boards and is
involved in community activities including the Children's Advocacy Center of
Delaware (a nonprofit helping child victims of sexual and physical abuse), Atlas
Corps (a NGO which facilitates international nonprofit fellowships), his local
chapter of Ducks Unlimited, the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, and
Asbury United Methodist Church in Smyrna. He is a member of the Smyrna-Clayton Rotary Club and a member of Harmony
Lodge #13.
Mr. Willis, his wife, Laura, and
their sons, Deane and Ellwood, reside in Clayton, Delaware.