Full Name
Omar Vargas
Job Title
Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy
Company
General Motors
Speaker Bio
Omar Vargas is the Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy at General Motors (GM). In this role, he leads GM’s global engagement of government officials and public policy.
Prior to joining GM in August of 2021, Omar held senior government relations roles with 3M, Praxair and PepsiCo. In the early 2000s, Omar was as an appointee of President George W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served in a variety of capacities. His portfolio included a broad range of law enforcement, civil rights, national security, and immigration policy matters, including violence against women and human trafficking victim services programs. His government service was preceded by work at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He earned a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and School of International Service and a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish Literature from Seton Hall University in 1995. At Seton Hall University, Omar received the University’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal of Honor, in recognition of his academic achievements and community leadership and was awarded with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship, a full academic scholarship intended to honor and promote the memory of the slain national leader.
Omar is committed to various philanthropic efforts outside of his professional work.
He serves as co-chair of the Meridian Center’s Executive Committee and as a board member for Fiscal Note, Executive Institute Advisory Board and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Previously, he held various board engagement positions including Fords Theater Board of Trustees, the Hispanic National Bar Association Legal Education Fund, the Deuville Building Relief Fund, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Omar’s volunteerism with community-based organizations and advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers has earned him recognition by the New Jersey State Assembly and the Washington College of Law.
Omar has also earned recognition from the University of New Mexico School of Law U.S.-Mexico Law Institute, the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Institute on Lobbying and Ethics (2020 Top Lobbyist), The Hill (2019, 2020 Top Lobbyist), and Washingtonian Magazine (2022 Most Influential).
Prior to joining GM in August of 2021, Omar held senior government relations roles with 3M, Praxair and PepsiCo. In the early 2000s, Omar was as an appointee of President George W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served in a variety of capacities. His portfolio included a broad range of law enforcement, civil rights, national security, and immigration policy matters, including violence against women and human trafficking victim services programs. His government service was preceded by work at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He earned a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and School of International Service and a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish Literature from Seton Hall University in 1995. At Seton Hall University, Omar received the University’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal of Honor, in recognition of his academic achievements and community leadership and was awarded with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship, a full academic scholarship intended to honor and promote the memory of the slain national leader.
Omar is committed to various philanthropic efforts outside of his professional work.
He serves as co-chair of the Meridian Center’s Executive Committee and as a board member for Fiscal Note, Executive Institute Advisory Board and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Previously, he held various board engagement positions including Fords Theater Board of Trustees, the Hispanic National Bar Association Legal Education Fund, the Deuville Building Relief Fund, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Omar’s volunteerism with community-based organizations and advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers has earned him recognition by the New Jersey State Assembly and the Washington College of Law.
Omar has also earned recognition from the University of New Mexico School of Law U.S.-Mexico Law Institute, the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Institute on Lobbying and Ethics (2020 Top Lobbyist), The Hill (2019, 2020 Top Lobbyist), and Washingtonian Magazine (2022 Most Influential).
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