Current position and employer: Member, Executive Office of the U.S. President’s International Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC), Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). At ITAC, I lead senior-level advisory on high-impact government negotiations, to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), on trade policy, including key agreements like the U.S.-U.K. Economic Framework Agreement, U.S.-E.U. Framework Agreement, among other negotiations with over 70 countries, to resolve trade asymmetries and facilitate market access for U.S. industries.
Strategic Stakeholder Engagement: I advise the White House, U.S. Congress and senior government leadership, on aligning state-level economic, and private-sector commercial strategies, with federal policy, to ensure the U.S. market remains competitive globally.
Additionally, I am a key liaison with industry/industry association leadership, regulatory agencies, key external stakeholders, on policy and geopolitical interests. Including advancing U.S. government’s trade and economic positions at think tanks, multilateral institutions, and international forums, ensuring policy clarity and relationship-building.
In addition, I am also an Adjunct Professor of Economics: Global Trade and Political Economy, at the City University of New York (CUNY). My scholarship at CUNY examines International Political Economy (IPE) concepts that drive trade policy, the interests that compete over them, and the institutions that channel these interests. Scholarship also analyses how politics shapes the global economy of trade, and how the global economy shapes politics. A key focus in IPE is on the distributive consequences of global economic exchange. And, analysis of social system interplays that exacerbate the paradox between resistance to free trade, and desire to grow export markets.
I previously served as Commissioner/Chair, Economic & International Trade Development, for the State of Maryland. Prior to my role as Commissioner, I served as an Economic Development Fellow, Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, U.S. Department of Commerce. I am also a 2021 Bowe Fellow, a World Trade Center Institute Fellowship for Emerging and Developing Global Executives (EDGE Program).
Hometown: New York City, NY (Nigerian heritage)
Current City: Annapolis, MD
Why did you choose McCourt? Academic rigor, research centers, Georgetown’s reputation, and proximity to U.S. and international public policy institutions.
What was the best part of your experience with McCourt? There was always something new to discover or learn. Guest lectures from heads of government and industry featured in class case studies, not to mention access to vast resources of Georgetown University.
University Involvement: Post graduation, I served two-terms on the McCourt School Alumni Board. I was Co-Chair of the Campus Engagement Committee, Georgetown University Alumni Association (BAC). A member of Georgetown University Global Future of Development (now part of Global Georgetown); and the Georgetown University Alumni Admissions Program (AAP) for freshman and transfer applicants.
Tell us about a project that you’re currently working on.
I am particularly proud of my leadership in the on-going negotiations with over 70 countries (and industrial sectors) to resolve trade asymmetries, increase investments into the U.S. economy, and facilitate foreign-market access for U.S. industries. I am also a key government affairs liaison, working with critical industry/industry association leadership to address policy and geopolitical concerns.
I previously led the GOCI Maryland Business Forum’s engagement to align the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Global Health’s foreign policy priorities with Maryland’s $18.6 billion BioHealth & Life Sciences sector. I conceived and managed the GOCI Maryland Business Forum, a transformative initiative by the Maryland Governor’s Office, to promote private-sector competitiveness in international commerce, especially as markets and societies do not organically arrive at optimal conditions, global economic growth requires an enabling public policy.
Undergraduate university, degree, and major: University of Maryland, B.S. Global Business Management and Public Policy (minor, Business Law and Public Policy)
Hobbies/ Interests: My children and I are recreational trail cyclists. I also quite enjoy reading… and yes, video games!