The Global Tax Symposium 2020 | Americas

Donna Brazile is the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee and fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Ms. Brazile has been a contributor to ABC News and CNN, and has worked on every presidential campaign since 1976. In 2000 she became the first African American to serve as campaign manager for former Vice President Al Gore.

Ms. Brazile has worked passionately in the rebuilding and recovery efforts in her beloved hometown of New Orleans. Additionally, she loves working with young people, encouraging them to vote, to run for office, and to work within the system to strengthen it. Since 2000, Ms. Brazile has lectured at over 200 colleges and universities across the country on such topics as “Inspiring Civility in American Politics,” “Race Relations in the Age of Obama,” “Why Diversity Matters,” and “Women in American Politics.”

She first got involved in politics at the age of nine when she worked to elect a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground in her neighborhood; the candidate won, the swing set was installed, and a lifelong passion for political progress was ignited. That led eventually to Ms. Brazile’s work on every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000, when she became the first African-American to manage a presidential campaign.

In addition to her work an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Ms. Brazile is the best-selling author of Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House, as well as the best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics. She is especially pleased to have made three cameo appearances on CBS’s The Good Wife, and two cameo appearances on Netflix’s series House of Cards. She most recently appeared on BET's Being Mary Jane. Ask her and she’ll tell you that acting, after all, is the key to success in politics.

In 2013, Ms. Brazile was appointed by President Obama to serve on to the board of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She is also proud the recipient of more than 10 honorary doctorate degrees from major colleges and universities, including her alma mater Louisiana State University.

In August 2009, O, The Oprah Magazine chose Ms. Brazile as one of its 20 “remarkable visionaries” for the magazine’s first-ever O Power List. In addition, she was named among the 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian magazine, Top 50 Women in America by Essence magazine, and received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s highest award for political achievement. In 2016, Ms. Brazile was awarded Wonk of the Year from the Kennedy Political Union at American University.

Ms. Brazile is the founder and director of Brazile & Associates LLC, a general consulting, grassroots advocacy, and training firm based in Washington, DC. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University.

Last but never least, she is a proud native of New Orleans, Louisiana. In the aftermath of the two catastrophic hurricanes that made landfall in the Gulf region, Ms. Brazile was appointed by former Governor Kathleen Blanco to serve on the Louisiana Recovery Board to work for the rebuilding of the state and to advocate for the Gulf recovery on the national stage. Ms. Brazile was also appointed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to serve on the Tricentennial Commission.

Donna Brazile has spent a lifetime working for progressive change, responsible governance, and the advancement of all people in a society that is fair and equitable.

Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. He is also the president and founder of GZERO Media, a Eurasia Group company dedicated to helping a broad, global audience make sense of today's leaderless world.

Ian is a prolific thought leader and author, regularly expressing his views on political issues in public speeches, television appearances, and top publications, including Time magazine, where he is the foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large. His latest book "Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism" is a New York Times bestseller.

In 1998, Ian established Eurasia Group with just $25,000. Today, the company has offices in New York, Washington, San Francisco, London, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Tokyo, as well as a network of experts and resources in 90 countries. As the firm's president and most active public voice, Ian advises leading executives, money managers, diplomats, and heads of state.

Ian is credited with bringing the craft of political risk to financial markets—he created Wall Street's first global political risk index (GPRI)—and for establishing political risk as an academic discipline. His definition of emerging markets—“those countries where politics matters at least as much as economics for market outcomes”—has become an industry standard. “G-Zero,” his term for a global power vacuum in which no country is willing and able to set the international agenda, is widely accepted by policymakers and thought leaders.

In 2007, Ian was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, where he is the founding chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Geopolitical Risk. He is the Harold J. Newman Distinguished Fellow in Geopolitics at the Asia Society Policy Institute and serves on the President's Council of the Near East Foundation, the Leadership Council for Concordia, and the Board of Trustees of Intelligence Squared.

Ian earned a master's degree and a doctorate in political science from Stanford University, where he went on to become the youngest-ever national fellow at the Hoover Institution. He received his bachelor's degree in international relations from Tulane University.

Ian has published ten books including the national bestsellers “Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World”, “The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?”, and "Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World."

Kathryn Kaminsky is Vice Chair - US and Mexico Tax Leader. Kathryn is a partner with more than 25 years of experience serving the financial services industry, leading the delivery of Assurance, Tax and Advisory services to global clients. She was recognized in Crain’s 2019 list of Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting.

One of Kathryn’s key focuses as a leader is the advancement of female and diverse professionals in the firm. She is sought out as a leadership mentor and regularly speaks at universities, conferences and PwC functions regarding career development. Kathryn is also a member of the board of the United Way of New York City.

Kathryn graduated from the University of Western Ontario and is a certified public accountant in New York and New Hampshire and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Sindhu Hirani Blume is host, producer, and writer for PwC’s Inside Tax Policy. Ms. Blume previously worked for PwC overseeing client content and development for the Washington National Tax Services (WNTS) practice from 2000 to 2010.

Prior to returning to the firm to host Inside Tax Policy in January 2017, Ms. Blume worked with individual and business clients on editorial and communications strategy.

She previously was a reporter for the Gazette Newspapers in Maryland, and for five years wrote about the Treasury Department's international tax policy for Daily Tax Report. As a freelance writer, she published work in the Washington Post, The Austin-American Statesman, and National Public Radio.

Patrick Brown is the US International Tax Policy Leader for PwC.

Prior to joining PwC, Pat was Vice President and Counsel, Tax for GE Power and GE Renewables and a GE corporate officer. He was also the director of tax policy for GE.

Prior to joining GE Power, Pat was a senior international tax counsel for GE corporate and GE Capital, where he primarily focused on GE’s international operations in the Nordic region, EMEA, and Canada. He also had responsibility for the company’s overall foreign tax credit position and was a principal technical advisor to the tax director of GE on tax policy matters.

Pat joined GE in 2002 from the US Treasury Department, where he served as attorney-advisor and associate international tax counsel from 1998-2002. During his time at Treasury, Pat focused primarily on international tax analysis, negotiation of tax treaties, and representing the US government at meetings of the OECD on various tax issues.

Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Pat was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. Pat received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with highest distinction, from the University of Virginia in 1991 and a J.D. from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, in 1995.

The Honorable Dave Camp is Senior Policy Advisor within PwC’s Washington National Tax Services (WNTS) practice. In this role, Chairman Camp provides his perspective to PwC clients on the global business environment and important federal policy issues, including tax reform, the economy and the impact of proposed policy changes on businesses.

A member of Congress for over 24 years, Chairman Camp served as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and is recognized for his leadership in advancing federal tax reform. In March 2014, he introduced the Tax Reform Act of 2014, the most comprehensive tax reform proposal since the mid-1980s. Prior to his Chairmanship, he was a member of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) for six years, serving as Chairman in 2011 and 2013 and Vice Chairman in 2012 and 2014.

Chairman Camp’s extensive tax policy experience helps companies navigate the dynamic legislative and regulatory process to develop successful strategies and advance policies meant to improve economic growth and competition in global markets.

Colm Kelly is the Global Leader, Purpose, Policy and Corporate Responsibility for the PwC Network

In his current leadership role, Colm is a regular contributor to international multi-stakeholder dialogues on economic and societal issues including the G20/T20 and the Global Solutions Initiative. Through keynote addresses, panel discussions and publications, Colm offers a business perspective on the growing need for systemic change and to refocus economic and business activities on sustainable outcomes for society. He leads the PwC Network's conversation on its Purpose – to build trust in society and solve important problems – across the organisation. He Chairs PwC’s Global Corporate Responsibility Board which oversees PwC's global Community and Environment ambitions, mobilising the power of PwC's 276,000 people to help deliver them. He also leads PwC's relationship with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Colm is a member of the Global Markets Leadership Team for PwC, and has held several leadership positions within PwC, including Global Leader for Tax and Legal Services, and Chief Operations Officer for the PwC Network. With over 30 years of experience with PwC, Colm is a member of the Irish Taxation Institute and is also the Chairman of the Foundation for Fiscal Studies.

Rohit Kumar is a principal and leader of PwC’s Washington National Tax Services (WNTS) Tax Policy Services group. In this role, he advises clients on all aspects of domestic policy, including tax policy. His insights and knowledge enable companies to assess critical policy issues more effectively and to develop legislative strategies to address those issues from both a technical and a political perspective.

Prior to joining PwC, Mr. Kumar served in a number of distinguished government positions. He worked in close collaboration with three Senate leaders — including 11 years with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, for whom he served as Domestic Policy Director and Deputy Chief of Staff — in developing and implementing domestic policy, including tax, trade, budget, and health care. Mr. Kumar received his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his B.A. from Duke University.

Ken Kuykendall is the Managing Partner of the US tax practice and a member of the US Leadership Team of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). As Managing Partner, Ken is responsible for a national network of over 12,000 tax professionals who team together to deliver quality and tech-enabled solutions for US and multinational clients. Ken also works closely with the rest of the PwC US leadership team to develop and drive firm strategy and coordinate with the PwC global network of firms to deliver an unparalleled client experience to the US and global marketplace.

Ken brings to his role a deep knowledge of the US tax system, decades of experience advising clients across a number of industries, and extensive relationships in industry and government. He has over 27 years of experience working with multinational corporations on a broad spectrum of tax and business issues and has advised a variety of governmental and administrative agencies, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the US Internal Revenue Service, the US Congress and the US Treasury on financial reporting topics related to income taxes.

Previously, Ken served as the Tax Services and National Tax Services Leader for the US firm, as well as the Leader of the Risk & Regulatory Platform. Ken also has served as Director of Taxation for a Fortune 500 company and has first-hand experience with strategically managing the day to day aspects of a US tax function.

Ken has a B.A. in accounting from Eastern Illinois University, a M.S. in taxation from DePaul University, and a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Bar Association.

Kevin is a partner in PwC’s Tax Policy Services group in the Washington National Tax Services group. In this role, he advises clients on all aspects of tax policy and is the Lead Tax Partner on multiple Fortune 100 companies.

Starting in 2009, for over two years Kevin served as a Legislation Tax Accountant on the nonpartisan staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).  Kevin helped develop and draft significant international tax provisions and international tax reform options, including some that formed the basis for those enacted as part of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.

Prior to joining the JCT, Kevin was a Director in PwC’s Atlanta tax practice, where he assisted U.S. and foreign multinational taxpayers with domestic and non-U.S. tax planning, tax compliance and income tax accounting related issues.

Kevin received his Bachelors of Business Administration and Masters in Professional Accounting with a tax concentration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Janice Mays is a Managing Director in PwC’s Washington National Tax Services (WNTS). Janice’s long background in government and her deep understanding of the factors influencing both elected and professional participants in government make her uniquely qualified to provide insight and to assist the business community in assessing and pursuing critical policy issues more effectively. 

Janice joins PwC after a 40 year career on the Hill including over 22 years as the Democratic chief counsel and staff director for the House Ways and Means Committee. During her tenure, she was closely involved with and responsible for much tax legislation, including the Tax Reform Act of 1986. In addition, the second half of her career on the Hill, Janice worked extensively on health reform and international trade legislation.

Scott McCandless is a Principal in the Tax Policy Services (TPS) group of PwC’s Washington National Tax Services (WNTS). In this role, Scott brings an impressive legislative experience, as well as a distinguished history with PwC.

Prior to rejoining PwC in 2014, Scott served as Tax Counsel to two notable US Members of Congress —Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee; and then Congressman Tim Griffin, Member of the House Committee on Ways & Means. Before these appointments, Scott was a director in PwC’s WNTS practice, where he provided strategic advice as well as legislative, executive branch, and regulatory representation for domestic and international PwC clients on a broad spectrum of issues — including taxation and international trade — with a focus on energy tax policy. Scott has authored several articles for Tax Notes.

Todd joins PwC after recently serving as Democratic Chief Tax Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee under Ranking Member Ron Wyden. Before coming to the Senate, Todd was Floor Director and Counsel to US Representative James Clyburn, then-House Majority Whip, from 2007 2011. In both roles, Todd played a significant part in the development and enactment of multiple major legislative initiatives.

Will Morris is currently Deputy Global Tax Policy Leader at PwC, based in Washington and London. He recently moved to PwC after 17 years at General Electric. At GE, Will directed GE’s Global Tax Policy Program, helping to shape GE’s responses to changes at both national and international levels.

From 1995-1997 Will worked at the IRS, and from 1997-2000 he worked in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury, where he was Associate International Tax Counsel. At Treasury his areas of responsibility included subpart F, foreign partnerships and other fiscally-transparent entities, as well as entity classification issues (“check-the- box”).

Will was appointed Chair of the BIAC Tax Committee (Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD) in Paris in November 2012. As BIAC Tax Committee Chair, Mr. Morris has been closely involved in all aspects of the BEPS project, including follow-up and implementation, participating in public OECD consultations, coordinating and filing comments on behalf of business, and meeting with many formal and informal OECD groupings as well as national governments.

He is also Chair of the AmCham EU Tax Committee in Brussels, and was Chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Tax Committee in London from 2010-16.  He is also a Vice-Chair of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) Tax Committee in Washington, DC. Additionally, he chairs the European Tax Policy Forum, a registered UK charity that since 2005 has commissioned over 40 papers from leading academic economists on business tax issues.

From 2001-2017, Will co-chaired the HMRC Business Tax Forum in the UK with the Director General of Business Tax. He is a member of the EU’s Platform for Tax Good Governance. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board of Tax Inspectors Without Borders, and a member of the OECD’s Informal Task Force on Tax and Development.

Will has degrees in history, law, and theology from Trinity College Cambridge, the University of Virginia, and St Mellitus College, respectively. He is qualified as a US attorney and an English solicitor.

Pam Olson previously served as the US Deputy Tax Leader and Washington National Tax Services (WNTS) Practice Leader of PwC. In this role, she led a team of former senior government officials, policy advisers and prominent law-firm partners. 

Prior to joining PwC, Ms. Olson was Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the US Department of the Treasury and head of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s Washington Tax Practice. She has significant experience representing clients in a broad range of matters—including IRS controversies; private-letter ruling requests, proposed regulations, and other administrative guidance; and in Congressional investigations. She regularly advises clients on tax and Social Security reform, legislative matters and the structuring of transactions. Ms. Olson received her B.A., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of Minnesota.