The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has bolstered its federal advocacy team with the hiring of Jennifer Jacoby as managing director and associate general counsel, Matthew Grinney as vice president of strategic advocacy and policy communications, and Nick Key as senior associate for advocacy.
Jacoby will be in charge of federal government relations where she’ll report to Mark Schuerman, head of federal government and international affairs.
“I am very excited to have Jennifer join our team,” said Kenneth Bentsen, president and chief executive at SIFMA. “Her substantial financial services legal background complemented by significant legislative advocacy experience and skill set will be of great benefit to SIFMA's members as we advocate for efficient and effective capital markets.”
Jacoby joins the group after most recently serving as vice president of government affairs at In Your Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, where she was charged with oversight of the organization’s federal and state government affairs advocacy. She has also worked as senior federal policy counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Before her work in federal advocacy, Jacoby was a senior associate at law firm WilmerHale, where she advised banks, broker-dealers, money services businesses, as well as casinos and insurance companies on AML compliance, investigations and enforcement actions.
She is also a member of the Digital Currency & Ledger Defense Coalition, an organization made up of lawyers and academics to protect constitutional rights connected with digital currencies and distributed ledger technology on a pro bono basis.
“Her comprehensive skill set will complement and enhance SIFMA’s advocacy efforts to ensure carefully considered policy and regulations promote capital formation and efficient market function,” said Joseph Seidel, chief operating officer at SIFMA.
The new vice president of strategic advocacy and policy communications Matthew Grinney joins SIFMA after serving as senior policy and communications advisor to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, deputy director of speechwriting for Vice President Mike Pence, as well as a speechwriter for the Department of Health and Human Services.
He began his career as an intern and research assistant for The Heritage Foundation, before moving on to work as a communications advisor in the U.S. Senate.
Nick Key also joins SIFMA as a senior associate for advocacy after recently serving as a lobbyist for Active Policy Solutions, an organization that provides government relations and advocacy to clients specializing in sports, health, wellness, youth development and civil rights policy.
He began his career in a number of legal and legislative capacities, including as a legislative fellow for the Alabama State House of Representatives and a law clerk for Morris, Cary, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers in Montgomery, Alabama, according to his LinkedIn.
Grinney has already begun his new position with SIFMA and Jacoby and Key will be joining “over the next few weeks,” according to a spokesperson for the firm. All will be based in SIFMA’s Washington, D.C., office.
