Ms. Beth Clay, has built her career on the concepts of integrity, compassion, hard work, and grit that she learned from her grandmothers. Internationally recognized as an expert in business development and health policy, Ms. Clay is often sought for media interviews and public speaking.
Ms. Clay gave a dozen years to public service. From 1998 to 2003, Ms. Clay served as a Professional Staff member on the Committee on Government Reform with Chairman Dan Burton and subsequently a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness.
She led oversight activities regarding health research, practices, and regulation. Areas of focus included cancer research and treatment, pediatrics, medical injury, FDA regulation, conflicts of interest, health care disparities, disease prevention, integrative medicine, and drug re-importation.
Ms. Clay led a team that grew to six during intense investigations and culminated in 29 Congressional hearings, which she coordinated.
With Chairman Burton, Ms. Clay built tri-partisan consensus on drug re-importation, and garnered the passage of legislation for the first ever prevention-focused demonstration project within Medicare.
After the anthrax attacks on Capitol Hill, Ms. Clay coordinated a hearing to discuss secondary therapeutic options for protection against biological or chemical agents. She also mentored committee staff developing the legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security about various Executive Branch functions, procedures, and protocols.She further mentored staff working on domestic violence and international kidnapping investigations.
While on Capitol Hill, Ms. Clay served as a member of the US Delegation to the CODEX Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses; (a WTO level regulatory authority). Ms. Clay was frequently called upon by the Chairman to speak on his behalf, and traveled internationally (Russia, Canada, and Germany) as part of her official duties.
Prior to her service on Capitol Hill, Ms. Clay served seven years at the National Institutes of Health in administrative and committee management capacities within the international, alternative medicine and rare disease organizations of the NIH.
In 2008, Ms. Clay joined Capitol Strategy Consultants, Inc. as Senior Vice President where she works with clients on their Executive and Legislative branch interactions, strategic and media planning, and grassroots campaigns.
Ms. Clay's government relations activities typically focus on health policy, services, regulation and research across government agencies including Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Veterans Administration (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD).
A South Caroline native, Ms. Clay has called Florida, Saudi Arabia, and Maryland home. She is the mother of one daughter and three sons, whom she raised as a single mother. She is also a grandmother of one.