Bill Ashworth is the Director of State and Local Government Affairs at Alibaba Group, a multinational e-commerce company, headquartered in China.  Bill Ashworth was raised in Wayne, New Jersey. Ashworth obtained his B.A. in Public Communications from American University. He obtained his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. His first foray into politics began with student government and door knocking for a local city council campaign. While in law school at Syracuse University, he learned the nuts and bolts of prosecutorial work at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He worked as Policy Counsel at TechAmerica, then at Microsoft, and Google. He served as Senior Director of State Government Affairs, and later as Senior Legal Director of Public Policy at Yahoo. “Companies are recognizing the importance of state and government affairs and they are building out those functions accordingly and proportionately.” Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show.  Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at: [email protected] Follow The Lobbying Show on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for weekly updates about the show, our guests, and more.