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As vice president, Cameron Taylor leads Emory’s Office of Government and Community Affairs (OGCA).

The office is the university’s official government liaison—advocating for Emory on a range of topics and monitoring legislative and regulatory priorities. Under Taylor’s direction, staff work closely with the U.S. Congress; the Georgia Legislature; local governments; and local, state, and national civic organizations as well as professional associations to advance policy positions important to the university.

Taylor recently oversaw the creation of Emory’s first enterprise-wide community engagement strategy. Identifying three priorities—health and well-being; social and economic mobility; and arts, science, and cultural enrichment—the strategy uses Emory’s deep well of research, scholarship, economic influence, and human capital to focus on the greatest need areas, in conversation with community partners.

Prior to joining Emory in 2003, she spent a decade on Capitol Hill in a variety of roles. Taylor worked for the now-defunct Office of Technology Assessment, serving as principal author for a congressionally requested status report on aquaculture.

She also worked as legislative director for a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and served as lead Senate staffer for the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition under co-chairs Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT). When Senator Jeffords became chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Taylor joined as professional staff and worked to advance brownfields redevelopment efforts, including passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.

In more than 18 years of service to Emory, Taylor has defined excellence in some of the roles she now oversees.

She began her tenure as Emory’s Washington representative, advancing both specific project goals of the university as well as its larger policy objectives. Understanding the central role of productive working relationships in Washington, Taylor skillfully earned the trust of members of Congress, key members of their staffs, and representatives of the executive branch and federal agencies. To advance Emory policy goals, she coordinated with internal advisory groups and national medical, educational, and research associations.

Beginning in 2012, Taylor served three years as the university’s director of federal affairs, during which time she formed strong and collaborative relationships with congressional members, including Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and John Lewis (D-GA). Since 2015, when she was promoted to vice president and began overseeing the OGCA, Taylor has worked to ensure Emory’s strategic engagement of government stakeholders and community partners.

She is highly involved in the national higher education and health care trade associations. Taylor has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Government Relations Representatives (GRR) Steering Committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the GRR Steering Committee of the Association of American Universities. She also is a member of the Outreach and Engagement Committee of the Council on Competitiveness.

Taylor earned an MS in resource policy and administration from the University of Michigan and a BA in sociology and ecology from Emory. She also is a 2014 graduate of Emory’s Woodruff Leadership Academy.