GENERAL SESSION: Reading the Political Terrain – Charting Washington’s Next Run

Senior Vice President, Legislative and Political Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Bill Killmer is Senior Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). A veteran of over three decades in the housing arena, Bill joined MBA in 2010 and is responsible for managing the real estate finance industry's federal legislative, grassroots, and political fundraising activities, in close coordination with the MBA member leadership and its public policy, economics, public affairs, and lobbying teams. He oversees MBA's direct outreach to Congress, and is a regular guest speaker on the intersection of politics, policy, and industry issues. Under Killmer's leadership, grassroots participation through MBA's Mortgage Action Alliance has doubled, while donations to MORPAC, the industry's political action committee, have more than tripled, enhancing the association's ability to develop and execute effective advocacy strategies on the industry's behalf. Killmer came to MBA after nearly 20 years in the policy space at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), where he last served as Executive Vice President for Advocacy, managing all aspects of the group's public policy outreach. During his tenure at both organizations, he has been named as a Washington trade association "Top Lobbyist" by publications such as The Hill and CEO Update. He previously served as a Senior Legislative Officer for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor during the George H.W. Bush administration. Killmer holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (BBA), with a concentration in Finance, from Baylor University.

Vice President of Legislative Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Rachel Kelley is the Vice President of Legislative Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, focusing her lobbying efforts on the Republicans in the House of Representatives. She was previously Assistant Vice President of Political Affairs at the MBA since 2021. Kelley was formerly in political fundraising working for CLT Host 2020, Inc, the RNC (Republican National Committee), and NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee). Prior to fulltime political fundraising, she managed the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) PAC and helped represent ICSC on the Hill and worked on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) PAC. Before NAHB Kelley was a junior lobbyist at a boutique lobby firm.

Senior Director, Invariant

Alden Knowlton helps Invariant’s clients navigate the intersection of technology, financial services, and economic policy. With more than 15 years of bipartisan government relations and public affairs experience, she specializes in securing legislative outcomes, managing regulatory risk, and aligning advocacy strategies with business objectives. Alden area of focus is developing comprehensive policy and political engagement strategies to help clients operate confidently in evolving regulatory environments; advising on digital asset, housing finance, and capital markets issues, focusing on coalition-building and bipartisan outreach; guiding clients through high-stakes advocacy campaigns leveraging deep experience across Capitol Hill, industry trade associations, and the tech sector. Previously, Alden led Democratic lobbying and political strategy at Coinbase, where she secured historic bipartisan support for digital asset legislation and built the company’s PAC and political engagement infrastructure. Before that, she served as Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where she achieved key policy wins and built one of the industry’s most effective PAC and grassroots programs. Earlier in her career, Alden held leadership roles in political consulting and advocacy, managing multimillion-dollar PAC efforts and providing strategic counsel to congressional candidates and national trade associations.