2026 SMACNA Washington, DC Leadership Conference Speakers

Prior to joining Mindset, Kendra served as the Pensions Policy Director and Senior Tax Counsel for the Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In these positions, she

advised then-Chair Patty Murray on all ERISA and pension-related issues and managed all aspects of the committee’s retirement agenda. Kendra has many notable legislative accomplishments, such as the “Save our Community Newspaper Act,” and the prohibited transaction exemption relating to the provision of pharmacy benefit services in ERISA 408(h), both of which were included in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, the retirement provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” the “Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act,” which was included in the “American Rescue Plan Act”, and most recently, “SECURE 2.0.” Kendra also managed the Senator’s economic and tax portfolios, which included staffing the Senator in her role as a Conference Committee member on the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.”

Kendra also served as a Department of Labor detailee to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as well as an Employee Benefits Law Specialist for the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Kendra’s private sector career includes positions at the HR Policy Association, the law firms Slevin & Hart, P.C. and Venable LLP, as well as at Washington Council Ernst & Young.

Kendra has been an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, and Stetson University College of Law, and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM, Tax), The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (JD), and Dartmouth College.

Kendra’s hidden talent: She can weave pop culture into any topic and has made a sport of writing tax and ERISA exams based on her current television viewing much to the amusement of her students.

*Although these leaders were originally scheduled to appear in person, recent changes to the congressional schedule will require them to share their remarks via Leadership video addresses.

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