Mary Downs has had a distinguished career as a General Counsel, Executive Director and Legal Advisor for associations, private enterprise, and government. Her experience at the intersection of legislative and regulatory mandates at the federal level has shaped public policy that benefits commerce, associations and the general public. PUBLIC POLICY AND PROFESSIONALISM FOR THE PUBLIC GOODMary retired at the end of June,2021 as the Executive Director for the American Academy of Actuaries. Her leadership helped shape the public policy directives of the association representing the entire actuarial profession in the U.S. Her executive leadership on all legal and professional matters has been instrumental in helping the association maintain its high standards of ethics and service to the public. Her work has included guiding the filing of an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Academy to the U.S. Supreme Court.CORPORATE LITIGATOR, ANTITRUST COUNSELOR, EXPERT WITNESS Mary has advised on and managed a wide variety of legal issues including litigation, intellectual property and antitrust. As Director, Litigation, Law and Public Policy for MCI, Mary played an integral role in filings involving the aftermath of the WorldCom bankruptcy and issues arising in due diligence of merger processes . Prior to MCI, Mary was at Fannie Mae where she handled a variety of legal matters involving new product development, regulatory and litigation matters Before joining Fannie Mae, Mary was an expert witness in litigation involving contractual agreements, General Counsel of a trade association, and a senior lawyer in the federal government.FEDERAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR AWARDMary began her career in the aviation industry including legal and policy work for the Air Transport Association and Sato Travel. Her work in merger policy and labor protection provisions during deregulation for the Civil Aeronautics Board earned her the Federal Bar Association’s “Younger Lawyer of the Year.”