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Publications
WILLIAM KRIST
William is a former Assistant U.S. Trade
Representative responsible for U.S.
import & export policy.
An international trade expert in electronics,
high-tech industry, import & export policy,
negotiation, trade and environmental rules, his experience includes the Tokyo Round of Trade Negotiations, and at the US Commerce Department
where he focused on standards, government procurement, customs, and trade subsidies,
among other policy issues.
He has been Senior Vice President
American Electronics Association, and
worked in Brussels, Tokyo, and Beijing.
MICHAEL GALE
Michael has over 35 years in international
trade, government relations, and textile or
apparel issues. He was Assistant Secretary of
Commerce, a Deputy Special Assistant to
Pres. Bush, and an Associate Director,
Office of Public Liaison.
He served with Warnaco as head of its
Washington, office, Director of Government
Relations of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association and in the Florida law firm of Greenberg Traurig where he served as Washington Counsel for Central American andCaribbean Textile +
Apparel Council.
DR. ANTHONY T. BRYAN
Anthony is a leading expert on US-Caribbean
relations, and a well established international business
and trade consultant who also serves as president of
Anthony Bryan & Associates.
He’s a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, has been at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at
the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Anthony is extensively published on Caribbean
diplomatic and trade relations, security, + small state development and was an international relations
professor at the Universities of West Indies -
St. Augustine, and Miami.
ANTON EDMUNDS
Anton is principle of Edmunds Group,
International with over 18 years of US -
Caribbean relations experience.
He has led research, business development
and government relations efforts and directed a
variety of successful programs related to maritime security, logistics performance, energy policy,
facilitation, financial services and tourism.
He was recently Executive Director & CEO of the Caribbean - Central American Action in Washington
and has represented St. Lucia as senior manager of business development in New York, as well as the
Eastern Caribbean in Washington. He is currently
an Associate with CSIS and a contributor to the
Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor.
SIMON BARBER
Simon is a marketing and business development
expert who represents South Africa’s International
Marketing Council in the U.S. He’s also been U.S.
correspondent for South Africa’s premier daily,
Business Day, and is one of South Africa’s best
known financial + political commentators.
He has policy experience on US-Africa issues,
trade and investment, intellectual property and
the workings of the US and southern African
regulatory and policymaking processes.
ROGER A. FARINHA, ESQ
Throughout his career, he has been
party to innovation solutions and overcoming
daunting challenges. As Chief of the Auto Theft Unit
and Community Prosecution in Wayne County,
Michigan, he received awards from 12 top insurance careers for his crime reduction solutions, and he
designed and implemented strategies for the Innovative Community Prosecution Network and Nuisance Abatement Programs.
Mr. Farinha has championed numerous charitable organizations, worked internationally, and is especially talented with the Middle East. He attended the City University of New York, City College, and
Boston University School of Law.
RICHARD CRICHTON
Richard is an international trade consultant
with over 40 years in U.S. Customs. He assisted
in drafting regulations for Customs field offices
on textile issues related to AGOA, the Caribbean
Basin Trade and Promotion Act + Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
An international trade manager, import
specialist, and branch chief, Richard has given
technical assistance on commercial importations, primarily textile and apparel products.
He recently participated in the FTAs with
Chile, Singapore, Bahrain, Central American
Countries, Dominican Republic, Panama, South
African Customs Union, and Andean Countries.
He has trained U.S. customs officers, foreign
governments and trade associations on
implementing and enforcing trade agreements.
trade associations on implementing and
enforcing trade agreements.
JOHN C. BAIZE
John is currently president of John C. Baize and
Associates, an agricultural trade consultancy.
Considered a worldwide expert on the global soy
bean sector, he’s also proficient in oil seed, feed,
+ livestock/poultry sectors, serving in the USTR’s
Office, and on the Committee on Agriculture in
the U.S. House of Representatives.
John was Vice President and Director of the
Washington office of the American Soybeans
Association and served as Chairman of the
USTR | USDA Agricultural Technical Advisory
Committee on Grain and Oil Seed.
FEMI AKINBI
Based in Washington, D.C., Femi is a Nigerian
national with over 30 years of experience in
business advisory and the strategic facilitation
of trade delegations from Africa. Personable and
steeped in the art of diplomatic nuance, he is a passionate humanist and the quintessential
relationship builder – one with an invaluable
wealth of contacts in Nigeria.
Femi effectively advocates the advancement of
Africa’s collective economic development through
infrastructural development and regional integration.
He's President of Ekababa, LLC, and helped create
the U.S. - South Sudan Chamber of Commerce. He is advising the Southern Sudanese government on soft
and hard infrastructure and frequents D.C. radio
stations as a syndicated speaker + panelist on Africa.
IVELAW GRIFFITH
Political Scientist Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith brings two-
and-a half decades of teaching, research, and university leadership experience, global engagement, Congressional testimony, and national and international consulting to a new consulting venture
as President and CEO of Griffith Global Initiatives.
President of Fort Valley State University in Georgia from July 2013 to June 2015, Professor Griffith served earlier as Provost of York College of The City University of New York, Budget Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida International University (FIU), Dean of the FIU Honors College, and Provost at Radford University in Virginia. He holds academic degrees from universities in the Caribbean and the United States.
Dr. Griffith has published more than 50 articles and several books, including the highly-acclaimed book “Drugs and Security in the Caribbean and Caribbean Security in the Age of Terror”. He was a consultant to Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, USAID, U.S. Department of State, the Ministry of National Security of Jamaica, and other agencies, and he has testified before the United States Congress on Caribbean security issues.
Professor Griffith has also been a visiting scholar at the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington, D.C., the Royal Military College of Canada, and the George Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. His expertise also includes higher education leadership and management, land-grant university operations, international educational collaboration, recruitment and retention strategies.
NAVDEEP S. SODHI
Based in Nigeria, Navdeep is an international
consultant with over 20 years in textile industries in India and Africa. With exposure to large trading houses and buyers in over 40 countries in Europe, Africa and the Far East, he’s an expert at developing export strategy and trade, marketing, research, and the formulation of quality assurance systems. He has been General Manager in fancy prints in West Africa, headed the export division of a large spinning group in India and participated in the EU anti dumping proceedings against India in Brussels.
He's a consultant to the APEX Committee set up by Nigerian to revive the textile and garment industry
and develop export strategy for AGOA.
JAMES STARKEY
James is an international agriculture trade expert with 40 years experience who served asDeputy Under Secretary for International Affairs &Commodity Programs with the US Department ofAgriculture; as Asst. Special Trade Representative forAgricultural Affairs at the US Trade Representative’sOffice, and as senior executive and consultant forUniversal Corporation.
A member of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council, James recently led to diversified income for more than 100,000 small African farmers.
As a member of the US APAC from 1995 to 2003, he advised the Agriculture Secretary during the Uruguay Round and has been involved in the Doha Round of
WTO negotiations.
RAJEEV ARORA
Rajeev is a Tanzania-based international consultant with expertise in development of export production policy - for textile/apparel industry - under trade agreements such as
MMTZ-SACU and AGOA. He has proficiency in Export Processing Zone development, FTZs, manufacturing, and
in investment promotion. He has assisted African gov'ts
and companies in manufacturing under bond and export processing zones and has worked on the development of the apparel industry and global policies and EPZ schemes with African agencies.
RODRIGO MASSES ARTZE
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rodrigo has 25 years
in Latin America and U.S. business development.
He has worked on a whole host of business models:
From import and export of consumer products and construction management to energy projects. In 1988, he founded Makro Importers and Distribution Inc., and in 1992, he co-founded Makro Trading Co.,
a wine and spirits import agent.
He's currently in charge of Latin America/Hispanic markets for Dominion Voting Systems and our new Export Escort Program (EEP) initiative to provide business and export facilitation services to companies in Puerto Rico. He was formerly Secretary + Vice President for Puerto Rico Industries of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association and now serves as Vice President for the Services Sector, accounting for 63% of the PRMA's membership. Rodrigo has a BBA from the University of Puerto Rico + a JD from the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico.
MICHAEL KING
Ambassador Michael King (Retired, based in Barbados), covers the firm’s business development work in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. He has had a long and varied international career in government relations, diplomacy, trade, environment and development. He served in Europe as the Ambassador of Barbados to the European Union and non-resident Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, the WTO and UNESCO.
His last diplomatic assignment was as Ambassador to the United States of America, Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States and non-resident Ambassador to Costa Rica. Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. He also served on secondment from the Government of Barbados as the Representative of the OAS in The Bahamas and the Executive Director of the Caribbean Conservation Association.
He retired in 2014 as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture after 37 years in the Barbados Public Service). He is a graduate of the City University of New York and the University of Oxford Foreign
Service Program.
RUBEN MENDOZA
Ruben Mendoza (based in Guatemala City) is a Guatemalan Attorney at Law, Legal and International Business & Financial Advisor. He has an extensive experience for more than 25 years working with different national and international public and private organizations, companies and projects in Guatemala and other countries, where he has achieved a great professional experience and has developed a substantial number of personal contacts and business relationships, as well as has participated more recently in an important number of different advisory and consultant assignments and projects.
Mr. Mendoza worked for the Minister of Finance in Guatemala as Director of the External Finance Division in charge of Management of the Guatemalan External Debt and Public Debt Restructuring among others duties to trade the “Coffee Bonus” up to $400 million at the international markets. He was also appointed by the
Minister of Economy as Director of The Services Group Negotiations under the United States/Central America Free Trade Area (DR-CAFTA). In addition, the Minister of Economy for Disputes Resolution processes within DR-CAFTA chose him as National Arbitrator. He holds an Attorney at Law Degree; an MBA and an MA in International Legal Studies from the American University in Washington, D.C. being a Fulbright Scholarship.
