Kate Hudson has served at AAU since March 2022. As Deputy Vice President and Counsel for Government Relations and Public Policy, Kate assists in managing and directing the Government Relations and Public Policy department and developing and executing strategies to advance AAU’s advocacy and public policy priorities in the federal legislative and regulatory arenas. Her portfolio includes intellectual property, technology transfer, open and public access, export controls, sexual harassment, data privacy, and copyright issues. In addition, she supports AAU’s policy and federal relations work in areas that require legal expertise, such as tax issues related to research, labor and employment, research security policy, higher education Title IX issues, and other regulatory matters important to America’s leading research universities. Kate also leads AAU’s General Counsels (GC) constituent group and the CFR Tax Task Force.  

Prior to joining AAU, Kate served in the U.S. federal government as a senior attorney-advisor in the legislative and executive branches, most recently with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

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Joe Allen served on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) securing passage of the Bayh-Dole Act which fostered R&D partnerships between universities and U.S. industry.  The Economist Technology Quarterly called this law “possibly the most inspired piece of legislation to be enacted in America over the past half century.” On leaving the Senate staff, Joe was Executive Director of Intellectual Property Owners, Inc. (IPO) where he worked to create the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit before going to the U.S. Department of Commerce where he became the Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization. He was instrumental in the passage of major laws allowing U.S. industry to perform joint R&D with federal laboratories. Allen’s office oversaw Executive branch implementation of the Bayh-Dole and Federal Technology Transfer Acts and related presidential policy directives. He helped negotiate intellectual property rights provisions for major international science and technology agreements.

Joe then became President of the National Technology Transfer Center established by Congress to promote industry/federal laboratory R&D partnerships. He is now the Executive Director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition, a non-profit organization composed of universities, companies, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and others who are committed to celebrating and protecting the landmark law. Joe writes a monthly column for IPWatchdog on Bayh-Dole related issues.

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Tristan Leavitt is widely respected for his unrivaled inside knowledge of the federal whistleblower protection process. He has over a decade of experience investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and cronyism in the federal government.

Leavitt began his investigative career working on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), where he helped whistleblowers expose schemes like Operation Fast and Furious, the gunwalking scandal that armed the murderers of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. He also served as Senator Grassley’s chief whistleblower policy advisor, leading the introduction of the first Senate resolutions recognizing National Whistleblower Appreciation Day and the establishment of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus.

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Noel Thomas stands as a visionary leader, driven by an unwavering dedication to eradicating the scourge of human trafficking through pioneering technological solutions. With a multifaceted background deeply entrenched in identifying organized crime, orchestrating law enforcement coordination, and advancing technological innovation, Thomas emerges as an entrepreneur poised to rewrite history in the fight against exploitation.

His journey commenced amidst the mission fields of Operation Mobilization and Youth With A Mission (YWAM), where he bore witness to the harrowing impact of human trafficking on vulnerable communities worldwide, igniting within him a fervent desire for meaningful change. This propelled him on a mission to combat the injustice at its core, a mission that would lead him to serve as the former Statewide Counter Trafficking Coordinator for Florida.

In this role, Thomas orchestrated collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and governmental bodies, spearheading initiatives to disrupt trafficking networks and provide vital support to survivors. His strategic leadership proved instrumental in elevating global awareness of human trafficking and implementing comprehensive intervention strategies.

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Brian Darling is the president and founder of the firm Liberty Government Affairs. He was Senior Communications Director and Counsel for Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank based in Washington, D.C. Darling has been involved in U.S. politics since the early 1990s, in roles as a congressional aide, lobbyist, and legal counsel.

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Mike Prado is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and serves as the Deputy Assistant Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), where he leads its Cyber Crimes Center (C3). At C3, he leads a federal law enforcement workforce utilizing cutting-edge technology and 21st century investigative techniques to combat cyber and cyber-facilitated transnational criminal activity. C3 provides investigative, technical, and resource support to all HSI domestic and international field offices, in support of a broad spectrum of cyber investigations, including online child sexual exploitation and abuse, network intrusion, and illicit activity on the dark web, to include narcotics and weapons trafficking. C3 also oversees HSI’s Computer Forensic program and maintains programmatic oversight and coordination of all cyber training, outreach, and specialized solutions to counter illicit use of technologies.

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Jessica Melugin is director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Her research focuses on technology issues including antitrust, online privacy, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, social media content and net neutrality regulation. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, Bloomberg Law, National Review and others. She has been cited in The Washington Post, Politico, U.S. News and World Report and Variety. Ms. Melugin is a frequent cable news television and radio guest.

She is an Innovators Network Foundation Antitrust and Competition Policy Fellow.

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A dynamic public relations practitioner that hails from the great city of Detroit, MI with nearly 20 years’ experience designing and implementing creative engagement processes and programs within the public and private sectors. Serving as External Affairs Officer for Operation Allies Welcome, being selected as DHS’ first Social Impact senior executive, implementing the DHS Loaned Executive Program, and creating the Exemplar training with industry program are the highlights of my DHS tenure.

Selected as the Office of Partnership and Engagement’s first chief of staff to fully realize the merger of nine offices and campaigns and administer a multi-million-dollar budget. I’m a visionary with excellent interpersonal communication skills to effectively build relationships with key internal and external stakeholder groups.

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Kent Lassman has served as president and CEO at the Competitive Enterprise Institute since 2016, overseeing strategy and operations for the free-market organization.

As president, Lassman brings to CEI more than 30 years of public policy, research, and executive management experience. He has held positions in nonprofit organizations, on advisory boards, at private firms, and public policy organizations. He is a member of the board of directors at the Center for International Private Enterprise.

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Stone Washington is a Research Fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Advancing Capitalism. At CEI, his research primarily focuses on financial developments in the market, ESG investing, and federal regulation of the economy. He is currently a Frédéric Bastiat Fellow with the Mercatus Center, participating in a host of educational colloquia on the study of political economics. He previously completed a Humane Studies Fellowship with the Institute for Humane Studies. Prior to his current role at CEI, Stone served as a trainee with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Examinations. Before this, he worked as a Research Assistant for the Manhattan Institute, assisting several Senior Fellows with policy projects in the areas of legal policy, public sector unions, and higher education.

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