On Friday, March 7, WITA hosted its annual Congressional Trade Agenda where Congressional Trade Leaders shared their perspectives of the Hill’s Trade Agenda.
This event was OFF-THE-RECORD and was only available LIVE in-person or via Zoom on Friday, March 7.
No recording of this event is available.
Program Agenda
9:00 AM (US/Eastern): Doors Open for Networking Breakfast
9:30 AM: Welcome
Kenneth I. Levinson, Chief Executive Officer, Washington International Trade Association
9:35 AM: Discussion Featuring:
Virginia Lenahan, Chief Counsel, International Trade, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Democratic Staff
Mayur Patel, Chief Counsel, International Trade, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Republican Staff
Josh Snead, Republican Chief Trade Counsel, Trade Subcommittee, House Ways and Means Committee
Alexandra Whittaker, Democratic Chief Trade Counsel; Staff Director Trade Subcommittee, House Committee on Ways and Means
Followed by:
Q & A with Audience Moderated by Ken – Webinar attendees are encouraged to use the Q&A function on the Zoom app to submit their questions in real time.
11:00 AM: Event Close
Speaker Biographies
Virginia Lenahan is the Chief International Trade Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Democratic Staff.
Ms. Lenahan has worked in the Senate for a decade and has served as trade counsel for the Senate Committee on Finance since 2019. In this role, she has advised on intellectual property, labor, environment, and digital trade, and she has supported the committee’s work on numerous bills, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and legislation suspending normal trade relations with Russia. Prior to joining the Committee, she worked in the office of Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Pa., on trade, tax, intellectual property, telecommunications, and judiciary issues. A native of Pennsylvania, Virginia earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and her JD from the George Washington University Law School.
Mayur Patel is the Chief International Trade Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Republican Staff, serving Chairman Chuck Grassley and the Committee’s Republican members.
Previously, he served for over seven years as an Associate General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). While at USTR, Mayur was the lead litigator on a number of WTO disputes, including in disputes with China and India. He also served as the lead lawyer for several chapters of the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA), and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). Prior to USTR, Mayur worked at an international law firm in New York practicing corporate litigation. Mayur has a J.D. and an L.L.M. in International and Comparative Law from Duke University School of Law, and a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William & Mary.
Joshua Snead is the Republican Chief Trade Counsel on the Trade Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives. He advises Committee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Adrian Smith (R-NE) on trade matters, including negotiation and implementation of trade agreements, bilateral relationships with U.S. trading partners, and preference programs for developing countries.
Before joining the Committee staff in 2016, Mr. Snead was in private practice at King & Spalding in Washington, DC, specializing in trade litigation and policy. Previously, he represented U.S. pork producers on trade policy matters as an International Trade Specialist at the National Pork Producers Council. Mr. Snead holds a JD and an MBA from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Gordon College.
Alexandra Whittaker is the Democratic Chief Trade Counsel and Trade Subcommittee Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives. She advises and represents the House Ways and Means Committee on all trade matters including trade agreement negotiations, implementation, and enforcement, bilateral relationships with U.S. trading partners, customs law, preference programs, sanctions, trade remedies, congressional oversight, as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Before joining the Committee staff, Alexandra was Assistant General Counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) with responsibility for providing legal counsel and policy guidance on a wide variety of international trade matters, as well as litigating trade remedies and agricultural disputes before the WTO. During her time at USTR, Alexandra also served as Assistant Legal Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, where she was a U.S. negotiator for the WTO dispute settlement reform negotiations and represented the United States in all disputes and disputes-related matters before the WTO. Alexandra previously worked as an environmental attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and counsel for a trade association. She is a graduate of Spelman College and Howard University School of Law.
Kenneth Levinson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA). WITA is Washington’s largest non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing a neutral forum in the U.S. capital for the open and robust discussion of international trade policy and economic issues. WITA has over 4,500 members, and more than 170 corporate sponsors and group memberships.
Previously, Ken served as Senior Director for Global Government Affairs for AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Ken served as Senior Vice President and COO at the Washington, DC consulting firm of Fontheim International. Ken started his career on the staff of U.S. Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, where he served as the Senator’s chief advisor for international trade, tax, foreign policy, and national security. Ken received a Master’s degree in European History from New York University after doing his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst. Ken also spent a year studying at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.