Kathy Bañuelos

Kathy Bañuelos is the Senior Vice President of State Government Affairs at the Motion Picture Association. With over a decade of experience advocating on behalf of the entertainment industry during a period of significant evolution for producing and distributing creative content, Ms. Bañuelos has amassed a wide breadth of policy expertise, and experience working successfully with broad coalitions on complex policy matters. At the MPA, she oversees all state and local government relations, advocacy, and regulatory functions of the association.

Previously, Ms. Bañuelos served as Vice President of Government Affairs for NBCUniversal, where she was responsible for state and local lobbying on public policy issues impacting the company across the country. In addition to providing legal analysis and policy recommendations, Ms. Bañuelos also engaged with NBCUniversal’s outside trade associations, including the Motion Picture Association, broadcast associations, and various Chambers of Commerce, to advocate for and promote the media and entertainment industries. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Ms. Bañuelos was a consultant for the California Senate Judiciary Committee, where she provided legal analysis on a wide breadth of state policy issues with an emphasis on First Amendment and other constitutional issues.

Ms. Bañuelos earned her Juris Doctor at Columbia University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Pomona College. She lives in La Verne, California with her two sons, Alejandro and Massimo.