NRF hires senior policy counsel; names VP of government relations

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) has hired Paul G. Martino as VP and senior policy counsel, and promoted Beth Provenzano to VP for federal government relations. Martino and Provenzano will work with the NRF Government Relations Department and focus on emerging public policy priorities, including data security, payments, mobile and e-commerce, privacy and patent reform.



Martino joins NRF from the Washington office of the national law firm Alston & Bird LLP, where he served as a partner and co-chair of the firm’s Privacy and Data Security practice. He has worked with the retail community as a consultant to NRF on a number of retail industry issues since 2008. Before joining the firm, Martino served as majority counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee and principal advisor on privacy and e-commerce to its Chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.



Provenzano has been with NRF since 2011. She has been leading the retail industry’s efforts on patent litigation reform and continues to play a role in the debate over swipe fees. Before joining NRF, she served as deputy chief of staff for the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and staffed Senators John Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, and Bob Graham, D-Florida.