Elisabeth Kann was appointed Assistant Administrator, External Affairs/Chief of Staff of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in August 2018. In this role, Ms. Kann ensures proactive coordination of Bureau-wide priorities, policies, and internal and external communications and supports the strategic management of the Bureau. This is accomplished through strategic planning and performance management, including the effective use of data and analytic tools to facilitate overall efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, Ms. Kann is responsible for overseeing the functions of the Offices of Communications, Industry and State Outreach, Congressional and Public Affairs, Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation, and Analytics and also serves as TTB’s Chief Risk Officer.
Ms. Kann joined TTB in 2010 as a Presidential Management Fellow in the Regulations and Rulings Division, where she served from 2010 to 2012. Immediately preceding her appointment as Chief of Staff in 2013, Kann served as Special Assistant, Office of the Administrator, where she advised and assisted the Administrator and Deputy Administrator on a broad variety of sensitive and complex matters spanning TTB’s authority. Before beginning her federal career at TTB, Kann was a litigation attorney in the New York office of Kaye Scholer LLP, where she specialized in complex commercial and securities fraud litigation.
Ms. Kann graduated from Dartmouth College in 1996, majoring in English Literature. She also earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in 2000 and a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2010.