• by Fern Siegel , January 2, 2019

MPA – The Association of Magazine Media, has named Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn executive vice president, government affairs. She is charged with representing all key issues that impact the magazine media industry, both here and abroad.

Gwyn has more than two decades of public policy and legislative experience. Her role is to be the industry’s biggest advocate before Congress.

She will continue industry leadership on key MPA issues, including First Amendment rights, consumer protection and privacy, and postal and taxation, according to the organization's rep.

Previously, she was managing director, government relations, Accenture. Gwyn held similar posts at Kellogg Company and American Express.

Linda Thomas Brooks, president-CEO of MPA, called Gwyn’s background “impressive” and noted that her “broad strategic experience” would help drive effective advocacy.

Based in Washington, D.C., Gwyn replaces James Cregan, who had been with MPA for nearly 25 years. Before joining MPA in 1995 as senior vice president and counsel, Cregan represented MPA in private practice for seven years. Gwyn will continue his work of spearheading coalitions, such as the American Mail Alliance.

Other ongoing issues MPA will address in 2019 include GDPR's impact in the U.S., CCPA's influence beyond California, and Facebook’s reversal of requiring boosted political editorial content to be tagged in its political ad database, considered akin to whitelisting approved media.