Colin St. Maxens
Senior Policy Advisor
Colin St. Maxens is a Senior Policy Advisor at Ara Partners, based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He provides strategic guidance on trade and tax policy, ensuring Ara’s portfolio companies are positioned to succeed in a complex global landscape.
Prior to joining Ara, Colin spent over a decade in the U.S. Senate, working for the Senate Committee on Finance and serving as a key advisor to Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho. As a policy advisor to the Senate Finance Committee, he drafted and negotiated significant trade legislation, such as the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and the suspension of Russia’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations status. He also represented the Senate Finance Committee in high-level trade negotiations, including World Trade Organization Ministerial Conferences, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forums, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and the U.S-Kenya Strategic Investment Partnership.
Colin earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of work, Colin enjoys playing golf, hiking, and fishing. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, daughter and dog.