SACRAMENTO – Building on the state’s efforts to help expand international business opportunities for California companies, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today appointed 13 members to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council, including vice chair Maria Echaveste, policy and program development director at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law’s Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy.
“I am honored to have Maria Echaveste join me as vice chair of this critically important council. This dynamic group of individuals brings a wealth of experience in international affairs and business development and we are ready to help the Governor and GO-Biz continue to strengthen California’s position in the global economy,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Kounalakis, who was appointed chair of the council in 2014.
The California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council advises the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) on strategies to expand international trade and investment for California businesses and assists GO-Biz in identifying foreign markets with the greatest potential for export expansion. The council also aids GO-Biz in developing specific export strategies for those markets – including the state’s top trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, and emerging markets such as Brazil and India, as well as strategies to attract more job-creating foreign direct investment into the state.
The council will hold its first meeting next month in Sacramento.
Today’s appointments build on Governor Brown’s action to boost international trade, including the 2013 Trade and Investment Mission to China, the opening of the California-China Office of Trade and Investment in Shanghai, a trade meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in California and the 2014 Trade and Investment Mission to Mexico, where the Governor was joined by a delegation including approximately 90 business, economic development, investment and policy leaders from throughout California.
California recently surpassed Brazil to become the 7th largest economy in the world. The state registered a record number of exports in 2014 with businesses exporting over $174.1 billion in goods, 3.6 percent higher than the previous year. Foreign-controlled companies employ 590,100 California workers and foreign investment in the state is responsible for 4.9 percent of the state’s total private industry employment.
California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council Members
Maria Echaveste has been appointed vice chair of the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Echaveste works as a public policy consultant focused on issues including immigration, civic engagement, U.S.-Mexico relations and food policy. She is also affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley School of Law’s Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy and the University of California, Berkeley Food Institute. She served as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001, was assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 1997 to 1998 and administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division from 1993 to 1997. Echaveste is a member of the California HealthCare Foundation Board of Directors and the Mi Familia Vota Board of Directors and previously served as a member of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation Board of Directors and the Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute Advisory Board. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Jeff Bleich has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Bleich is a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP, which he joined as a litigator in 1992. He served as special counsel to President Obama in 2009 before being appointed by the President as U.S. Ambassador to Australia. Bleich is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute. He served as director of the White House Commission on Youth Violence from 1998 to 1999 and is a past chair of the California State University Board of Trustees and past president of the California State Bar. Bleich earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Mark Cafferty has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Cafferty is president and chief executive officer at the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. He held several positions at the San Diego Workforce Partnership from 2001 to 2012, including president, chief executive officer and chief operating officer. Cafferty is a member of the CONNECT Board of Directors, San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, South County EDC and CleanTECH San Diego. He earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in performance measurement and non-profit management from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Lee Ann Eager has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Eager has been president and chief executive officer at the Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County since 2009. She was an attorney at Lang Richert and Patch from 2005 to 2009. Eager serves as a member of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley and was executive director at Rape Counseling Service of Fresno from 1988 to 2000. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Carl Guardino has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Guardino has been president and chief executive officer at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group since 1997, where he was vice president from 1991 to 1995. He was director of government affairs at Hewlett-Packard Company from 1995 to 1997 and district director in the Office of California State Assemblymember Rusty Areias from 1984 to 1990. Guardino serves as a member of the California Transportation Commission. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Gene Hale has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Hale is the chief executive officer at G&C Equipment Corporation and president of Gence Corporation and G&C Consulting Services. Hale was appointed to the Commission on Building for the 21st Century by Governor Gray Davis and to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities by President George W. Bush. Hale serves as a member of the President’s Export Council and is chairman of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce and of the Gardena Police Foundation. He is a member of the Southern California Leadership Council. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Anja Manuel has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Manuel is a co-founder and partner at Rice Hadley Gates LLC and is a lecturer in Stanford University’s International Policy Studies program. She served as special assistant to Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at the U.S. Department of State from 2005 to 2007 and was an international litigation attorney at WilmerHale from 2001 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2009. Manuel is a member of the Ripple Labs Advisory Board, Internews Board of Directors, Center for a New American Security Board of Advisors and the Aspen India Strategy Group. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Greg Norton has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Norton has been president and chief executive officer at the Rural County Representatives of California since 2006, where he has held several positions since 2000, including executive vice president. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Brooks Ohlson has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Ohlson is director of the Sacramento Regional Center for International Trade Development. He was executive director at the Northern California World Trade Center and at the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program for the Sacramento region. Ohlson served as district director of the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service in Sacramento and as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in the Foreign Commercial Service from 1983 to 1988. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Roy Paulson has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Paulson is president of Paulson Manufacturing and director of Paulson International Ltd. He is chair of the Riverside County Manufacturers and Exporters Association and of the National District Export Council and a member of the California Inland Empire District Export Council and the National Association of Manufacturers Board. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Susanne Stirling has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Stirling is vice president of international affairs at the California Chamber of Commerce, where she has led the International Trade Department since 1982. She is a member of the National Export Council Steering Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce International Committee, University of the Pacific Board of Regents and the Chile-California Council and is an alternate member at the California International Relations Foundation Board. Stirling earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Southern California School of International Relations. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Carlos J. Valderrama has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Valderrama is senior vice president of global initiatives at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. He was director of Latin American Operations at Musick and Peeler from 2006 to 2008 and at Carlsmith Ball from 1992 to 2006. Valderrama was appointed by Governors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson to serve as California’s trade representative in Mexico and Latin America from 1988 to 1992. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
Jim Wunderman has been appointed to the California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council. Wunderman is president and chief executive officer at the Bay Area Council. He was senior vice president for external affairs at Providian Financial Corporation from 1997 to 2004 and served as chief of staff in the Office of San Francisco Mayor Frank M. Jordan from 1992 to 1995 and special assistant in the Office of San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein from 1983 to 1987. Wunderman is a visiting professor at the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management, chair of the California Preschool Business Advisory Council and a member of the East Bay Zoological Society Board, Bridge Housing Corporation Board, Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics Board, Sierra Energy Board and the TMG Partners Board. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.