ARLINGTON, VA. — Longtime industry lobbyist and trade organization executive Jula Kinnaird has died. She was 70.

Kinnaird passed away on April 9 after a recent illness.

Born Aug. 19, 1954, in Lexington, Ky., she moved with her family to Virginia and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Randolf-Macon Women’s College and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Kinnaird’s career spanned four decades. Since 2007, she was president of Capitol Management & Communications, which specializes in advocacy, strategic planning, association management, communications and government and public relations. During that time, she also served as a consultant to the American Bakers Association in areas such as government relations and marketing strategy, addressing issues including federal nutrition policy, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and school meal programs, among others.

From 2009 to 2016, Kinnaird was a principal of public relations agency kinnaird+mangan, which she helped establish. The firm provided communications and marketing services to trade associations, nonprofits, corporations and other businesses. That followed a half-dozen years representing the grain industry as president of the National Grain Trade Council from 2000 to 2006.

Perhaps Kinnaird is best-known for her leadership of the National Pasta Association from 1992 to 2000. During her eight years at the trade group, she represented the US pasta industry before Congress and federal regulatory agencies. Among her achievements were the association’s successful national public relations campaign promoting the benefits of US-manufactured pasta, and she was twice named one of the top 50 trade association executives in Washington, DC, by Washingtonian magazine.