Our Team

Kari Barrett

Senior Advisor, Leavitt Partners

Kari Barrett is a Senior Advisor at Leavitt Partners, specializing in food safety policy and regulation.  She brings to Leavitt Partners an extensive knowledge and understanding of federal food safety programs, policies, and operations.  She recently served as a Senior Advisor to the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods.  In that capacity, she worked with the FDA Foods Program leadership team on strategic planning and policy development. Ms. Barrett was also instrumental in the development of the FDA Food Protection Plan, a plan that continues to serve as a foundation for much of the current work being done today to upgrade the nation’s food safety system.

Previous to her work in the FDA Office of Foods, Ms. Barrett served as a Deputy Chief of Staff in the FDA Office of Chief Staff and as a Senior Advisor in the FDA Office of Legislation.  In these roles, Ms. Barrett planned and managed a wide variety of FDA priority announcements and addressed legislative issues across all FDA product Centers. Ms. Barrett’s leadership role in developing and coordinating communications and outreach required her to interact regularly with the agency’s many internal and external stakeholders, including scientific experts, senior administration officials, Congressional staff, industry representatives, consumer groups, local governments and regulatory counterparts around the world.

Prior to joining FDA in 2002, Ms. Barrett spent 15 years in trade association management and leadership positions.  She served as the Director, Regulatory and Technical Affairs – Plant Operations Team Leader for the American Chemistry Council from 1999 to 2002.  Ms. Barrett also served as a Senior Regulatory Analyst for the American Petroleum Institute and as an Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, for the Chemical Manufacturers Association.  Much of her trade association work focused on developing and implementing strategic initiatives in the areas of worker and plant safety and security.   She developed comprehensive policies and communications plans on key plant operations advocacy issues and worked with industry, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on implementation of the Clean Air Act Process Safety Management and Risk Management Plan regulations.

Ms. Barrett received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland and has completed graduate coursework there toward a Masters of Public Policy.  She lives in Rockville, Maryland with her husband, three daughters and the family golden retriever.