Brad Weltman Promoted to Vice President, Public Policy
NEW YORK, NY – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has named Dave Grimaldi as the trade organization’s new Executive Vice President of Public Policy and head of its Washington, D.C., office, where he will spearhead the media and marketing association’s lobbying efforts in support of consumer privacy, data security, supply chain safety, advertising taxation and other major regulatory and legislative issues. Grimaldi, currently Director of Public Affairs for Pandora, will join IAB in January 2016. He will assure that IAB members’ voices are heard represented before Congress, as well as at key agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“Dave Grimaldi will build on IAB’s legacy as the most influential advocate for digital industry issues inside and outside Washington,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “He is a recognized leader on Capitol Hill, at the regulatory agencies, and in private industry – and in his 15 years in D.C., he has garnered a reputation for integrity, enthusiasm, judgment, and consensus-building.”
While at Pandora, Dave Grimaldi established the company’s Washington, D.C. office, directing its initial legislative and public affairs strategies. Before joining Pandora, Grimaldi served as Chief of Staff and Media Legal Advisor for the Office of FCC Commissioner (and later Acting Chair) Mignon L. Clyburn. There, he developed and implemented the commissioner’s overall policy agenda and provided strategic counsel on all issues coming before her. Prior to the FCC, he was Senior Counsel at the Office of Majority Whip James E. Clyburn of the U.S. House of Representatives. In that capacity, he interacted with senior leaders across Washington on a wide range of policy topics, including Wall Street reform, health care reform, and climate change. Earlier, as part of the Robert Raben Group, Grimaldi lobbied on behalf of several major corporations, including IAB members Viacom and Microsoft. He began his career working as Legal Counsel for the Office of U.S. Congressman Ed Towns. Grimaldi is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and received his JD from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.
In Washington, IAB works with a Public Policy Council comprised of 200+ executives from among its 650 member companies. With this leadership group, the trade association has helped build one of the digital industry’s most respected self-regulatory initiatives, the “Your AdChoices” program that ensures consumers control over their data usage in interest-based advertising environments. IAB has also built a strong voice for the digital advertising industry in the nation’s capitol, advocating for governmental policies that support growth and innovation across the ecosystem. IAB has been instrumental in shaping new laws and regulations around consumer protection, government access to data, protecting intellectual property, and advertising disclosures. The organization’s efforts have successfully thwarted several ill-conceived policy proposals, including widespread cookie blocking by browsers, European-styled data restrictions, and “Do Not Track,” which would have severely limited the way responsible publishers operate.
In addition, IAB announced that it was promoting Brad Weltman to the position of Vice President for Public Policy in the association’s Washington office. During his tenure at IAB, he has served as the organization’s chief lobbyist and as a broad spectrum privacy and technology expert in Washington. Before joining IAB as Senior Director in August 2014, Brad spent seven years as Vice President for Government Affairs at MPA – The Association of Magazine Media. Prior to MPA, he worked in the U.S. Senate as a policy advisor to then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and on the committee staff of Senator Ted Kennedy. He has extensive experience representing industries and companies before the United States Congress, federal regulatory agencies, and state legislatures on a multitude of issues that include privacy, mobile, advertising, taxation, intellectual property and First Amendment issues.
“With the issues facing the digital media and marketing ecosystem growing more complex and more global, the combination of Dave and Brad as leaders of our Washington office – with ongoing support from the rest of the IAB Public Policy team – positions us for even greater impact,” added Rothenberg. “This is the team that can help the interactive industry come out on top in this increasingly complex policy environment.”
Blinkhorn LLC, a top executive recruiting firm focused on the technology, communications, and media industries, managed the IAB Executive Vice President Public Policy search.
About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. It is comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. Together, they account for 86 percent of online advertising in the United States. Working with its member companies, the IAB develops technical standards and best practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. The organization is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the IAB advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City and has a West Coast office in San Francisco.
