Stephanie Mertz Patel
Director of Government Affairs
Stephanie Mertz Patel serves as the Director of Government Affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), where she leads and advances the organization’s advocacy on artificial intelligence, energy, and workforce policy. In this role, she works closely with lawmakers to create policy that supports innovation and technology development.
Prior to joining ITI, Stephanie served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation under Chairman Ted Cruz. In this capacity, she worked on a number issues including tech, content moderation, manufacturing, and cybersecurity. During her time at the Committee, she worked on several pieces of successful bipartisan legislation and led investigations into online content moderation issues.
Earlier in her career, Stephanie worked for Senator Cynthia Lummis, where she worked on several policy areas including commerce, technology, foreign affairs, and education policy. She began her career working for Senator Rob Portman.