Gina Adams, Senior Vice President, FedEx Corporation, to Speak and Be Honored at Trinity’s 2017 Winter Graduation

Gina Adams, Senior Vice President, FedEx Corporation, to Speak and Be Honored at Trinity’s 2017 Winter Graduation

Gina AdamsGina Adams, senior vice president for government affairs for FedEx Corporation, will be the keynote speaker and honoree at Trinity Washington University’s Winter Graduation on Friday, January 6, 2017. Adams will receive an honorary doctor of laws for her achievements in business and her outstanding contributions to the Washington community, with a particular focus on education and youth. “Gina Adams is a remarkable woman of achievement who has succeeded in the corporate arena, while also sharing her expertise, time and commitment to enhance the quality of life for those who live and work in Washington,” said President Patricia McGuire. “She is an exemplary leader and a great role model for our students,” she added. “Gina Adams grew up in Washington, graduated from D.C. Public Schools and D.C. universities, and has given back to her community in so many extraordinary and meaningful ways.”

As senior vice president for government affairs at FedEx Corporation, Adams is responsible for shaping and promoting the interests of all FedEx Corporation operating companies, including FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services, in the political and policy arenas. As a lawyer and the company’s top lobbyist, she works with administration officials, members of Congress, the diplomatic community, and industry associations on domestic and international commerce and transportation issues. Adams also oversees one of the largest corporate political action committees in the United States for her company, which serves more than 220 countries and territories and relies on 300,000 team members worldwide to make more than 9 million shipments each business day.

Adams joined the FedEx Corporation in 1992, and has since held a number of important positions: managing attorney of the International Regulatory Affairs Office, staff director, and staff vice president for International Regulatory Affairs. In 2001 she was promoted to senior vice president for government affairs, and she is a two-time recipient of the FedEx Five Star Award, the highest employee achievement award at FedEx.

Adams is a graduate of Ballou High School in Washington, D.C. She earned her bachelor of science degree from American University, her law degree from Howard University School of Law, and earned an LLM degree in international and comparative law from Georgetown University Law Center.

Adams began her career as a lawyer in the Attorney Honors Program at the U.S. Department of Transportation and spent nine years in the Office of the General Counsel. While at DOT, she was selected as a Department of Transportation Fellow and later served on the advisory committee for the DOT Fellows Program. She has since taught at George Washington University and served on the governing committee of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Air and Space Law.

Adams is very active in the Washington, D.C., community and is engaged in many projects and events that focus on education, health, youth and the arts. She serves on several boards including American University, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Town Hall Education Arts & Recreational Campus (THEARC, where Trinity is the higher education partner), National Museum of Women in the Arts, Fight For Children, the Global Virus Network, and the DC Public Education Fund. She has previously served on the boards of the Council for Excellence in Government, the American Red Cross, the Meridian International Center, the Beauvoir School (National Cathedral’s Elementary School), the Washington Performing Arts Society and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, including a term  as chair in 2010.

She recently served as the co-chair, with President McGuire, of the DCPS Rising Leadership Committee, an advisory committee appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser as part of the search for the new chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools.

Adams has been honored by many organizations and featured in local and national publications for her ongoing commitment to her community. These recognitions include the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Jack and Jill, Inc. (she is current president of the DC Chapter), Girls Inc., a 140-year old philanthropic organization that promotes education and opportunities for young women of all socio-economic backgrounds, the National Women of Color and the Black Women’s Agenda, the Minority Enterprise Executive Council and the Network Journal.

In March 2016, Adams participated on the “Women of Excellence” panel at Trinity, convened and moderated by D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton as part of Women’s History Month; watch the video.

More than 180 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred at the Winter Graduation ceremony, which begins at 5:00 pm on Friday, January 6, 2017, in the Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports.

For more information, contact Ann Pauley, media relations, 202-884-9725, pauleya@trinitydc.edu .

Photo of Women of Excellence Symposium

Women of Excellence Symposium, Trinity Washington University, March 2016, convened by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.