Ken Carpi

Ken Carpi manages the Carpi & Clay Washington, D.C. office and legislative activities.  With more than 30 years of experience in the public sector, including more than 25 years at the federal level, he plays a major role in developing and implementing effective federal legislative and regulatory strategies.  He directs a staff that works to craft successful approaches and develop strategic partnerships that meet, and often exceed, client expectations.

Under Ken’s leadership, the company has been in the forefront of public infrastructure, water resources, port operations, and transportation improvement efforts nationwide.  The firm’s clients have benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal appropriations for critical projects.

As legislative director for a U.S. Senator, Ken spearheaded and directed all legislative efforts on behalf of the nation’s largest state. He supervised a large professional staff focused on natural resources issues, transportation funding, housing, and public works projects – all of key importance to the legislative program.  Previously, he served as the Senior Policy Assistant to the Mayor of San Diego.  Ken has a degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University and has completed graduate work in Urban Studies.  He holds the rank of Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

David Wetmore

David brings 30 years of government and congressional relations experience to our clients, with a record of providing sound strategic guidance to our clients and elected officials. David’s expertise includes the legislative process, public policy, issue management and development, strategic planning, and communications. He is a direct liaison to the executive branch, Congress, governors and their senior staffs, industry representatives, trade associations, and corporate officers. He has helped shape major federal legislation and regulatory decisions that impact states and local governments and non-profit entities.

David served as the State of California’s chief federal representative under two governors and honed his advocacy and issue management skills as chief liaison to California’s, federal, state, and local leaders, and elected officials. He was direct liaison to Congress, California’s 55-member congressional delegation and the White House under GOP and Democratic presidents. Previously, he held senior staff positions in the United States Senate.  Joining Carpi & Clay in 2007, he has directed successful advocacy initiatives and delivered notable successes for our clients in securing appropriations and grant funding, regulatory relief, project authorizations and legislative achievements in health care, defense, infrastructure, public lands management, and research and development.

During his six years directing government relations and federal regulatory activities for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, David represented all 50 states’ insurance commissioners at the state, federal, and international levels on health care, tax policy, financial services legislation, catastrophe and terrorism risk insurance programs, and trade agreements.

David graduated with a double major in political science and French from San Diego State University, and he is a graduate of the Institute d’Etudes Politiques, Aix-en-Provence, France. He serves on the board of directors of the California State Society.

Julie Minerva

Julie Minerva is a recognized leader in infrastructure investments, having worked on a variety of transportation and water resources projects nationwide. A former legislative assistant to the late Congressman Robert T. Matsui, Julie has advanced critical infrastructure projects at the federal level, representing transit agencies, commuter railroads, short line railroads, ports, harbors, water districts, flood control agencies, cities, counties, airports, joint power authorities, and private enterprises.

She has executed legislative and regulatory strategies for wide-ranging infrastructure interests, including rail line relocations, light rail extensions, bus storage maintenance facilities, fleet replacement, commuter rail service recapitalizations, airport facilities, innovative finance, economic development, levees, dams, shorelines, navigation channels, environmental restoration, and base reuse.

Julie’s advocacy efforts on behalf of infrastructure investments include working with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its modal administrations, such as the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. Congress.

Since joining Carpi & Clay in 2016, Julie has secured nearly $1 billion in direct federal assistance for transportation and water clients. Her two-decade career in Washington, D.C. has ranged from Capitol Hill to Am Law 200 law firms to her current position with Carpi & Clay’s concierge government relations practice. Julie has helped prepare clients for congressional testimony, coached new legislative staff on complex issues, and advised clients on navigating the ever-changing politics of Washington.

Julie’s proactive approach has been integral to revitalizing aging infrastructure and building new investments. Her broad geographic and issue experience spans 25 states and American Samoa, including helping build an intermodal station in Auburn, Maine, advancing clean water supplies in rural New Mexico, enhancing rail operations in northwest Indiana, and reducing flood risk in the Pacific Northwest. Julie has built many productive relationships, both within Congress and at the agency level, establishing her as a tremendous resource to the firm’s clients.

Her success in advancing infrastructure projects caught the attention of Washingtonian magazine, which named Julie one of Washington’s “Top 40 under 40” lobbyists.  She has served as a monthly columnist for the Floodplain Management and Liability Reporter; is a regular contributor to The Levee Was Dry blog; coauthored the “New Starts Handbook,” a guide for congressional staffers for navigating the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant process; and organized the first “New Starts Day on the Hill” for the Capital Investment Grant Working Group.

Julie is a frequent guest speaker at national infrastructure conferences and a regular participant in infrastructure industry meetings, such as the American Public Transportation Association, the Capital Investment Grant Working Group, the American Association of Port Authorities, the National Waterways Conference, and the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies. In September 2019, she was named to the board of directors for the National Waterways Conference.

Julie graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and theatre, with a dance emphasis.

Laura Morgan-Kessler

Laura Morgan-Kessler has more than a decade of experience advocating for public entity and association clients on a wide range of issues including water quality and infrastructure, flood control, transportation, public safety, and the environment.  She provides them with timely and strategic intelligence on Congressional and federal agency actions and helps develop and implement federal advocacy strategies to accomplish specific goals.

Laura is known for developing partnerships with clients, and her dedication to – and passion for – their issues has proven to be an effective combination for success.  She maintains strong working relationships with Members of Congress and their staff, Congressional Committees, and federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  She also works closely with national organizations such as the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities.

Previously, Laura spent time on Capitol Hill as a legislative staff member for Senator Dianne Feinstein.  During her tenure with the Senator, she focused her efforts on issues of importance to Californians such as transportation, water, energy, and the environment.  She also supported the Senator’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee portfolio.

A native of Southern California, Laura received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Wake Forest University. She and her husband live in Northern Virginia with their daughter.

Channon Hanna

Channon Hanna brings more than 15 years of experience working on federal transportation and infrastructure projects, policy and regulations. Throughout her career, she has represented a diverse portfolio of clients including airports, airlines, public transportation agencies, highway construction companies, national associations, city and county governments and Fortune 500 companies.

She began her career in Washington, D.C. working on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, working on transportation policy focused on aviation, rail and maritime industries. After leaving the Hill, she worked at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the Airport Council International-North America (ACI-NA), two premiere national associations representing national transportation interests. While serving as the Senior Legislative Representative at APTA, she steered APTA’s federal efforts on reauthorization of surface transportation programs, transportation financing, and tax issues.

During her tenure at ACI-NA, she led efforts to create and execute overall strategies on federal issues such as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization, homeland security and facilitation issues. Most recently, Channon has spent the last few years providing comprehensive government relations services to a wide variety of public and private sector clients.

Channon is currently a member of The Road Gang: Washington’s Transportation Fraternity and the Aero Club of Washington. She is also a member of Women in Government Relations (WGR) where she serves as the Chair of the Congressional Outreach Committee, Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and a past Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Task Force.

Channon has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Auburn University.

Kerry O’Hare

Kerry O’Hare is a strategic advisor to Carpi & Clay and brings over 30 years’ experience working with governors, mayors, Members of Congress, Cabinet level officials, trade associations and the infrastructure stakeholder community.  Her background has been in transportation and infrastructure policy where she has excelled at achieving results.

Her experience includes serving as Vice President and Director of Policy for Building America’s Future – a bipartisan coalition of state and local officials advocating for a smart and strategic long-term infrastructure plan to enhance America’s economic prosperity and quality of life.

Prior to joining Building America’s Future, Ms. O’Hare held several different positions at the US Department of Transportation (DOT) including Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration where she provided executive leadership to an agency with more than 2,500 employees and an annual budget of $40 billion.  She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs and was the chief liaison to state and local officials on behalf of the US Secretary of Transportation.

While at DOT, Kerry was part of a select team that implemented the Secretary’s National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network.  This team worked to educate state and local leaders as well as the business community in targeted states about how to develop innovative ways to address traffic congestion.

She is a two-time recipient of the Secretary’s Gold Medal which is the USDOT’s highest award.

Kerry also served for seven years as the Deputy Director in the Office of Federal Affairs for a New York Governor where she devised and coordinated New York’s federal transportation reauthorization strategy.  Additionally, she has eleven years of experience on Capitol Hill where she served as Legislative Director to Member of Congress and Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator.

Kerry is a Board Member of Building America’s Future, a member of The Road Gang and WTS International where she serves as the Vice Chair of the Legislative Committee and is the Chair of the Mount Vernon Women’s Golf Association.