SPEAKERS

As President & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), Rob brings 29 years of experience to the Association.

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Rob joined the IRMA staff in 1994, coordinating IRMA’s government relations efforts. In that capacity, he also served as the legislative coordinator for the Illinois Food Retailers Association and the Midwest Hardware Association. Additionally, he had the responsibility for IRMA’s membership development efforts.

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n 2012, Rob was named Executive Vice President and assumed the position of President & CEO on Jan. 1, 2014.

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Rob currently serves on the Employment Security Advisory Board to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Illinois Attorney General’s Franchise Advisory Board, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Food Safety Advisory Committee and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program Policy Advisory Council. In 2009, Rob was appointed by then-Governor Pat Quinn to serve on the temporary Pension Systems Modernization Task Force.

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​He is a graduate of Illinois State University. Rob is a native of Chicago and long-time resident of Jacksonville where he and his wife, Lori, reside. They are the proud parents of four.

Paul Martino is a highly regarded public policy advocate and government relations partner with over 25 years of experience in Washington, DC specializing in privacy, data security, artificial intelligence (AI), ecommerce, and technology policy.

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Before joining Hunton, Paul most recently served as vice president and senior policy counsel for the National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association in the world, where he led federal and state legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts on data privacy, AI, and other consumer protection issues. Paul also led NRF’s advocacy efforts on European Union data transfer, data protection, and AI regulations.

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Paul has a distinguished background in Internet, privacy, and cybersecurity law, having co-chaired the privacy and data security practice at another global law firm, where he represented businesses and trade associations before Congress and federal agencies. His experience has earned him national recognition, including being named a leading figure in privacy law by Chambers USA.

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Before entering private practice in Washington, Paul served as principal advisor to US Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain on internet, technology, ecommerce, and privacy issues. He began his career practicing corporate and securities law with several Silicon Valley law firms where he focused on venture capital financings and initial public offerings for startup and emerging growth high-tech companies.

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Paul’s broad experience spans both private practice and government service, making him a trusted and valued advisor on complex legislative and public policy matters related to a wide range of data, technology, and ecommerce issues for US businesses, industry trade associations, and policy coalitions.

Curtis Picard is principal partner with PCD Collective LLC, a full-service association management company launched in 2025. He brings an extensive background in strategic planning, facilitation, and association management. He has more than 25 years of non-profit and association experience across all domains of association management.

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He continues to serve as the President and CEO of both the Retail Association of Maine, and the New Hampshire Retail Association.

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Curtis and his team also manage the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association, the Maine Pharmacy Association, the Maine Society of Health System Pharmacists, and the New Hampshire Society of Health System Pharmacists. He also launched the Business Education Partnership Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to workforce development.

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Picard currently serves on the board of directors of the New England Society of Association Executives, and on the Maine Small Business and Entrepreneurship Commission.  He is a past board member of the National Retail Federation, the Council of State Retail Associations, and the Maine Tourism Association. In 2018, he received the J. Thomas Weyant Award recognizing the State Retail Association Executive of the Year. Maine’s Governor Janet Mills appointed Curtis to the Maine Economic Recovery Committee in 2020 to help address the COVID-19 pandemic in Maine.

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He holds a Bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Vermont and a certificate in Sports and Event Management from New York University. He is a proud graduate of the U.S Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management (IOM) and earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation in January of 2012.