Alex Orel | 20 Under 40
Alex Orel
Founder and Principal
Citadel Public Affairs
Alex Orel is founder and principal of Citadel Public Affairs, a Topeka-based public affairs firm he launched in 2025. A Kansas City, Kansas native, he has worked in Kansas public service and advocacy since 2012, beginning as an intern in the governor’s office. He later served as the governor’s legislative liaison, then led government relations for Kansas Electric Cooperatives before spending more than seven years at the Kansas Bankers Association, most recently as executive vice president of government relations.
A Benedictine College graduate, Alex is past president of the Kansas Society of Association Executives and currently serves on the boards of the 20/30 Club of Topeka, the Kansas Business Roundtable and the Jayhawk Theatre. He and his wife, Sydney, live in Maple Hill.
Who has had the greatest influence on who you are today? Why?
My parents. My mom worked nights loading trucks at UPS to put herself through nursing school while raising my older brothers, then spent decades in the health care field. My dad spent his career with the Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department. They worked multiple jobs so our family had what we needed, and they never treated hard work or service as optional. My mom’s reminder, “To whom much is given, much is expected”, is still the standard I measure myself against.
What values guide the decisions you make? Why are those values important to you?
Integrity, service, and working with other people. Integrity because advocacy and fundraising only work if your word means something. Service because I was raised to believe opportunity comes with a responsibility to the community and people that made it possible. Collaboration because the things that actually move in Topeka and in Kansas, kids’ programs, a crisis center, a historic theatre, good policy, do not happen because one person decided they should. Those values matter to me because results without trust do not last.
What does good leadership look like to you? Why?
Good leadership looks like serving the people in the room, not collecting a title. It is setting a clear standard, doing the unglamorous work yourself when that is what the moment needs, and giving credit away. I have seen that in association work, on boards, and in building a firm. The leader’s job is to point everyone at the same mission and remove friction so other people can succeed. If the work gets done and the team still wants to work together, that is leadership. If only your name got bigger, it was not.
What advice would you give someone just starting out in your field?
Start by being useful and honest. Take the internship. Learn the process before you try to be the voice in the room. Return the call. Write the one-pager that a legislator can actually use. Do not confuse access with influence, and do not burn a relationship for a short-term win. This is a small state. Your reputation will get to the next meeting before you do. Work for people you respect, say yes to the unglamorous assignments, and remember why you walked in the building in the first place.
If you could live anywhere for a year, where would you go? Why?
I would still keep Kansas as home, but if I had a year somewhere else I would spend it somewhere I could play a lot of golf, sit on the beach, cook freshly caught fish and slow the calendar down. Someplace with good courses and no session clock. I have lived the Topeka and Capitol rhythm since 2014. A year away would be about perspective and R&R.
If you had an extra hour every day, how would you spend it?
At home. An extra hour with Sydney, my family, our dogs, or outside on the property. I would not give it back to the inbox or the phone. The work already gets enough of the day, and has for many years.
The hour I protect is the one that keeps me a husband, not just a lobbyist. That’s not my identity, or what defines me.
