Reta Jo Lewis has more than two decades of experience in public policy, government affairs, politics and law. Reta's practice focuses on providing government relations and strategic counsel to corporations, trade associations, individuals and non-profit organizations before Congress, the White House, regulatory agencies and municipal governments. More specifically, Reta has been involved in legislative, program, and policy developments related to the inclusion of minority and women-owned firms in the financial services industry during the last 15 years. Reta also specializes in working with governors, mayors, county executives, their senior staff, as well as with state and local legislators across the country.
Notable Experience
- Reta served as the lead public policy counsel for a national business organization in their efforts to assist minority and women-owned businesses and professionals to maximize their potential for equal opportunity, especially in the financial services industry. She successfully led the public policy initiatives that saw the inclusion of language in both the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) Reform Bill and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, for increasing participation, utilization and performance by businesses owned and operated by minorities and women in the work of the GSEs and the management of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
- Reta served as one of the senior experts on issues affecting small business at the Unites States Chamber of Commerce and worked extensively with the Democratic leadership in both Houses of Congress.
- Reta led the Chamber of Commerce’s strategic initiative, “Access America”, which focused on the nation’s fastest growing business sectors: women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
- Reta created a national network of organizations and partnerships that focused on business policy issues including healthcare, international trade, regulatory reform, education, transportation, technology and corporate social responsibility.
Recent Speaking Engagements and Publications
Before Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge
During the Clinton Administration, Lewis was named Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs, acting as the Clinton Administration’s political advocate to federal, state and local elected officials, constituency groups and opinion leaders during 1993-1995. During her tenure in the White House, Lewis was the President’s domestic political advisor to the 1994 Western Hemisphere Summit of the Americas, the principal staff coordinator for the White House Task Force for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Paralympics Games and the World Cup Soccer series.
Lewis is a recognized Democrat strategist, frequent speaker on political issues, with a special expertise on women national and international political participation. In 2007, she served as a keynote speaker in the Kingdom of Bahrain for the Speakers Bureau Programme, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). Her address and training symposium entitled “Effective Advocacy Through Civil Societies” was organized by the Bahrain Businesswomen's Society and supported by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Businesswomen Committee.
Throughout her tenure in government and the private sector, Lewis created bipartisan coalitions to build grass tops and grassroots legislative and political support for organizations facing public policy challenges. She has led public policy initiatives benefiting municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, District of Columbia, Florida and Georgia and has represented key elected leaders in the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of State Legislators and the National League of Cities. In local government, she served as the Chief of Staff for the District of Columbia Public Works Department, which included the Department of Transportation and the Water and Sewer Authority.
She has worked at the highest levels of national politics and is a veteran of state, congressional, and six presidential campaigns. She serves as Chair, DC Commission for Women, a Co-Chair of the Business Women’s Council for Senator Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign, she is a member of the Board of the Women’s Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee and serves as a Senior Advisor to the Democratic Leadership Council. She was a member of the 1993 Clinton-Gore Presidential Campaign, Transition and Inauguration Teams and served as the National Director of the first Nelson Mandela (8 city) U.S.A. Tour in 1990. She worked for the House Census and Population Subcommittee where she served as the principal legislative advisor for the passage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday legislation.