Special event : The View from Washington on Global Leadership
Join us in an exclusive evening session with Suresh Kumar, Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotion and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration.
This exclusive event for University of Chicago students and alumni and sponsored by Chicago Booth, is intended to give you a "Washington insider" view on global leadership from this Senior member of the Obama administration during his visit to Singapore. Suresh will touch upon communication, leadership, transparency as well as managing global operations in today's volatile world.
Driving Directions:
Parking is available at Park Mall or Visioncrest Commercial next door.
Speaker Profiles
Suresh Kumar (Speaker)
Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotion and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Servic, U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration
http://trade.gov/about.asp
Suresh Kumar was nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General for the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Department of Commerce. As Assistant Secretary and Director General, Mr. Kumar leads the U.S & Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS). The extensive worldwide network of the USFCS extends to 109 offices across the U.S and 127 offices overseas in 77 countries. USFCS is the trade promotion arm of the US Government that supports and provides customized solutions to U.S. businesses so that they can compete and win in the global marketplace.
Prior to his joining the Obama administration, Suresh Kumar spent over thirty years as an international businessman, consultant, coach and professor of management educations. Mr. Kumar has led global businesses of major US corporations and been responsible for business units across all continents. Between 1999 and 2003 Mr. Kumar headed the Worldwide Consumer Pharmaceuticals business of Johnson & Johnson and served on the corporation's Group Operating Committee. He is credited with turning around the Emerging Markets business, establishing collaborations, developing and commercializing innovation pipeline, and building stakeholder trust in the corporation's diverse global businesses. Mr. Kumar previously led consumer healthcare, confectionery and grooming businesses of Warner Lambert/ Pfizer as Vice President, Consumer Products for Latin America and Asia. Mr. Kumar is former member of the board of the World Self-Medication Industry (WSMI) and has served on the global councils of the American Management Association (AMA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. In 2004 Mr. Kumar was named Distinguished Executive-in-Residence by Thunderbird School of Global Management for his contributions to global trade.
Most recently Mr. Kumar was President & Managing Partner of KaiZen Innovation®, a Management Consulting firm he founded in 2004 to "improve lives and livelihoods". The firm specializes in developing global commerce: establishing public-private collaborations that spur development, helping businesses extend their global footprint, and installing global marketing processes and programs. Mr. Kumar has served as a consultant to leading institutions and corporations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Development Bank and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Between 2006 and 2007 Mr. Kumar served as Special Advisor to the Clinton Foundation and worked with Governments in Sub Saharan Africa and corporate CEOs to establish collaborative business models and execute farmer and market friendly programs to promote food security and stimulate economic development in the region.
Mr. Kumar has published on global management and served as adjunct faculty member at the Schulich School of Business at Toronto's York University, Bombay University, India and has been appointed Professor of International Business at Rutgers University EMBA program. Between 1970 and 1985 Mr. Kumar was news and sports anchor on national television in India. He has an Economics degree from Delhi University, an MBA from Bombay University, and is alum of the Thunderbird International Consortium Program. Mr. Kumar and his wife, residents of Princeton, NJ, have lived in six countries and speak as many languages. They have two adult children.