Ms. Heydinger is the executive director of Keeping PACE in Texas, a trade association created to promote Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing throughout the state. PACE legislation was signed into law on June 16, 2013. Ms. Heydinger now leads a broad coalition preparing a tool kit called “PACE in a Box” to help local communities across Texas create PACE programs to create economic benefits and to help Texas conserve water and power.

As general counsel to the Hon. Bob Michel, Republican Leader of the US House of Representatives, Ms. Heydinger coordinated the Leader’s strategy on legal issues and managed and coordinated minority leadership policy and strategy for several key bills assigned to multiple committees. She assisted the minority leadership on matters of legislative policy, drafting, and negotiations with members and staff of the House leadership and committees, the Senate, the White House, and the private sector.

She also served as the minority general counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, minority counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications, and the minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime.

After nine years on Capitol Hill, Charlene became vice president and Washington counsel for ABC, Inc., where she represented the company’s broadcast, cable, and publishing interests, including the company’s majority interest in ESPN, before Congress, the Executive Branch and the Federal Communications Commission for nine years.

In Austin, Ms. Heydinger served as executive director of the Morton and Angela Topfer Family Foundation, a Texas nonprofit corporation with assets of $62 million. She organized the board of directors, revised the trust agreement and bylaws, hired staff, and developed and managed the grant program, the budget and the general operations of the Foundation.

Charlene Heydinger is a principal of Capitol Technology Affairs, LLC, a boutique public affairs firm in Austin, serving clients in Texas and in Washington, DC. She served of counsel with Selman, Munson and Lerner, P.C. an Austin business transaction law firm. Charlene has served as a contract attorney with Thompson & Knight focusing on meeting the legislative needs of their clients.

Ms. Heydinger is a member of the Texas, Washington, DC, and Michigan Bar Associations. She served as a trustee for the Good Shepherd Episcopal School in Austin and on the Alumnae Board of the Simmons Graduate School of Management in Boston. Ms. Heydinger is a graduate of Michigan State University and Wayne State University Law School.