ARLINGTON, Va. – D. Scott Barash has been named as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. In this role, Barash will lead the Office of General Counsel, which provides legal, compliance, and risk management advice and counsel to NRECA and its members, its owned and affiliated entities, and the organization’s health and retirement plans.
“I’m thrilled to have Scott join our team,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “Scott is a strong leader with integrity, and he has extensive experience effectively developing and managing a large team with varied areas of responsibility. He has operated in heavily regulated environments and his experience in the telecommunications field will benefit our membership, which increasingly is expanding broadband services.”
Barash has served as general counsel for the District of Columbia Public Schools and the University of the District of Columbia, and Universal Service Administrative Company. He was a partner at Jenner & Block and served as a trial attorney at the Department of Justice.
Barash’s career has been driven by a passion for service and a direct connection with clients and staff. In his leadership role at D.C. Public Schools, he worked individually with principals and other school leaders for the benefit of their students.
“My leadership philosophy is based on relationships and empowering my team to the fullest extent possible—creating the conditions for them to succeed,” Barash said. “My role is to evaluate and manage risk and put it in context with the overall mission of the organization.
I look forward to working with NRECA’s members directly and supporting their mission in rural communities.
“I grew up in a small town in Illinois, so that mission is important to me. Working on the rural broadband issues in my past roles has given me some familiarity with the challenges of serving those communities. Providing broadband to those areas is analogous to co-ops bringing electricity to them decades ago.”
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.
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