Janine Smith

Ms. Smith served as judiciary and finance committee counsel to Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL.) from 1996-1999 and then joined the Washington, D.C., office of Akin Gump as counsel from 1999-2002. Following Akin Gump, Ms. Smith served as vice president for strategic partnerships and alliances and chief tax policy counsel for the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, America’s Second Harvest: The Nation’s Food Bank Network (now Feeding America). In that position, she played a key role in the organization’s legislative and regulatory efforts, working closely with members and staff of the congressional agricultural, education, appropriations and tax-writing committees; the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Treasury; the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI); and a wide array of for-profit and nonprofit food and hunger relief organizations. Following her work with Feeding America, Ms. Smith joined the National League of Cities as principal legislative counsel for taxation and finance. In that role, she worked closely with the staff of the other “Big 6” state and local organizations to develop policies supportive of the nation’s states and localities. While primarily responsible for covering issues before the House and Senate tax-writing, finance and budget committees, Ms. Smith also assisted in the oversight and coordination of the organization’s efforts for the State and Local Legal Center. Ms. Smith has been active in a number of local, state and federal campaigns, most recently serving as a volunteer field consultant for Obama for President-Ohio for Change 2008 and as a DNC consultant and base field organizer for Kerry Edwards-Ohio Victory 2004. In addition, Ms. Smith has taught and developed courses on tax-exempt organizations, law and legislation, and state and local taxation. Ms. Smith earned her B.A. in 1993 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. in 1996 from the University of Iowa, where she was managing editor of the Iowa Law Review. She is a member of the Illinois and District of Columbia bars, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.