Kara Ward is the General Counsel and Managing Director at Falcon Capital Advisors. She has over 14 years of experience in banking, finance, housing, and legislative and regulatory analysis. Ms. Ward focuses her practice on the intersection of consumer financial services innovation and government. She is especially well-versed in running complex, cross-governmental matters with intricate legal, policy, and financing components. Ms. Ward is highly knowledgeable in several areas, including the single-family mortgage market, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Minority Depository Institutions (MDI), subsidized small business lending, distributed ledger technological (blockchain) applications, cryptocurrency, and federal grants/loan guarantee management.

Ms. Ward counsels companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups newly created non-profits, Fortune 100 companies, and large capital markets investors. Known for her C-Suite savvy, Ms. Ward has successfully represented clients seeking: effective participation in the regulatory and formal rulemaking process; strategic planning for future/pending legislative and regulatory developments; applying for and managing compliance with federal financial assistance agreements; forging partnerships between industry, trades, and consumer groups; and CDFI certification. Ms. Ward regularly collaborates with various state and federal regulators, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Before joining Falcon Capital Advisors, Kara Ward was a partner in an AmLaw 50 law firm and an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the Banking and Finance Division. She was recognized as one of the “40 Under 40” for her policy expertise by the Women in Housing and Finance and was awarded the Secretary’s Special Contribution Award by the Department of the Treasury for her work on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She holds a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and a B.A. from Georgetown University. Ms. Ward also attained a Certificate in Community Development Finance issued by the University of New Hampshire.