Keith Mason

Keith Mason is a public/private sector partner, attorney and executive board-level advisor with expertise in developing effective public policy to support major infrastructure projects. Mr. Mason currently serves as Principal for KWM Capital Management (since 2016) in Atlanta and as Senior Advisor to Oaktree Capital Management’s Transportation and Infrastructure Fund. Previously, as Partner at Dentons U.S. LLP (1997-2016), Mr. Mason was instrumental in building the firm's global market presence in transportation, infrastructure, municipal reform and government affairs, and, most recently, served as Co-Chair of the Infrastructure Practice. Mr. Mason has advised Fortune 500 CEOs, boards, elected officials and senior-level decision-makers on projects throughout the country, ranging from commercial real estate development and major port/airport infrastructure to helping lead the four-year financial restructuring of a major capital city. Mr. Mason served as Chief of Staff for Georgia Governor Zell Miller (1991-93) after managingMiller’s successful gubernatorial campaign (1988-90) and then later as Deputy Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs for President Bill Clinton (1993-94) to mobilize support among governors to support the administration’s policy agenda. Mr. Mason secured support from 40 of the nation's 50 governors for passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and also worked to reform welfare policies, which later became law in 1996. As Governor Miller’s Chief of Staff, Mason was instrumental in winning public and legislative support for the approval, passage and implementation of the Georgia Lottery, which has provided $19 billion in Hope scholarships and pre-K program funding since its inception in 1993. With his father, Wayne Mason, Mr. Mason made the first private sector investment of property which created The Atlanta Beltline, one of the nation’s largest urban redevelopments, which the City of Atlanta is developing into a sustainable community. Mr. Mason was appointed to the Board of the Georgia Ports Authority (1998-2005), and served as Chair (2001 to 2003). His leadership helped established the port as the fourth busiest container terminal in the country and second busiest on the East Coast next to New York/New Jersey.

Mr. Mason recently was named to the Carter Center’s Board of Councilors and also currently serves as a member of the Meridian Global Leadership Council, Trustee for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (nation’s fifth largest pediatric health system), Board member for the Richard B. Russell Foundation and is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta. He formerly served as a Trustee and Treasurer for the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Foundation, Chairman of UGA’s Board of Visitors and member of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) board of visitors.

Mason has a B.A. in finance from the Terry College of Business, a J.D. from the University of Georgia, and was recently named a senior adjunct public service faculty member. He has funded scholarships at the graduate level, including the “Keith Mason Public Leadership Law Scholarship” for Terry College graduates and the “Zell Miller Scholarship for Public Leadership,” which was established in honor of Mason’s political mentor for qualifying students in the School of Public and International Affairs.