FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jamie Herring
Phone: (240) 235-0271
Email: jamie@associationtrends.com

Arlington, VA (December 12, 2019). – Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)^®, Arlington, VA, is the TRENDS 2020 Association Executive of the Year. 

“Gary Shapiro has long been a leading member of the association industry. He is tasked with representing the increasingly complex and rapidly growing consumer technology industry which is no easy feat. He is respected by his association industry peers, his team and has tirelessly represented his members, all qualities that embody the Association TRENDS Executive of the Year.”

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer technology companies and which owns and produces CES^® – the largest, most influential tech event in the world.

Shapiro directs a staff of about 200 employees and thousands of industry volunteers, leading his organization’s promotion of innovation as a national policy to spur the economy, create jobs and cut the deficit. CTA advocates for skilled immigration, the future of work, open trade and eliminating unnecessary burdens that throttle innovation. CTA does not seek government funding for industry.

Shapiro is a New York Times bestselling author, whose books include “Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation” (HarperCollins, 2019), “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses” (HarperCollins, 2013) and “The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream” (Beaufort, 2011). Through these books and television appearances, and as a columnist whose more than 1,000 opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, Shapiro has helped direct policymakers and business leaders on the importance of innovation in the U.S. economy.

Shapiro has testified before Congress on technology and business issues dozens of times and led the industry through its successful transition to HDTV. As chairman of the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC), Shapiro led the manufacturers’ battle to preserve the legality of recording technology and consumer fair-use rights and was an early opponent in the fight to defeat SOPA and PIPA in Congress – legislation that would silence free speech online. He co-founded and chaired the HDTV Model Station, served as a leader of the Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC) and is a charter inductee to the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers, receiving its highest award as the industry leader most influential in advancing HDTV.

Prior to joining CTA in 1982, Shapiro was an associate at the law firm of Squire Sanders. He has also worked on Capitol Hill as an assistant to a member of Congress. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate with a double major in economics and psychology from Binghamton University. He is married to Dr. Susan Malinowski, a retina surgeon.

Shapiro will be honored at the TRENDS 2020 Salute to Association Excellence, March 20th, at the Capital Hilton in Washington. Details: https://www.associationtrends.com/salute-to-association-excellence/.  Also to be honored at the TRENDS Salute will be the 2020 Association Partner of the Year, the 2020 Young and Aspiring Association Professionals; the 2020 Leading Lobbyists and the winners of the 2019 TRENDS All Media Contest, the most watched and respected competition for association communications in the country. For more information on the Salute, visit www.AssociationTRENDS.com/salute. 

For a complete biography, go to www.AssociationTRENDS.com/salute/honorees.