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Suresh Kumar

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

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.

Speeches

• 05/12/11 2nd Annual Governor's Awards for Excellence in Global Trade
  Little Rock, Arkansas

• 05/03/11 U.S. Aerospace Suppliers Trade Mission to Canada AmCham Luncheon
  Montreal, Quebec, Canada

• 05/02/11 BRIC Business Outlook Conference
  Baltimore, Maryland

• 04/27/11 Commencement Address Thunderbird, Graduate School of Global Management
  Glendal, Arizona

• 04/27/11 ACCESS 2011 Conference
  Houston, Texas

• 04/19/11 Washington State China Relations Business Council Lunch
  Seattle, Washington

• 03/30/11 American Chamber of Commerce in Morocco Luncheon
  Casablanca, Morocco

• 03/23/11 NEI DEC Luncheon
  Washington, D.C.

• 03/16/11 UPS Small Business Symposium
  Washington, D.C.

• 02/28/11 Appalachian Regional Commission Governors' Quorum Meeting
  Washington, D.C.

• 02/23/11 New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies
  New York, New York

• 02/16/11 Alliance to Save Energy’s Great Energy Efficiency Day
  Washington, D.C.

• 01/27/11 Global Innovation Kickoff Luncheon
  Raleigh, North Carolina

• 01/21/11 Chicago Council on Global Relations - U.S.-China Business Forum
  Chicago, Illinois

• 12/13/10 World Trade Center Association
  New York, New York

• 11/15/10 American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
  Hong Kong

• 09/28/10 Green ICT Trade Mission to Mexico
  Mexico City, Mexico

• 06/17/10 RepCAN 2010 AMCHAM Luncheon
  Montreal, Canada

• 06/11/10 10th France-USA AGIPHARM Conference
  Boston, Massachusetts

• 06/10/10 Cleantech Focus Boston
  Boston, Massachusetts

• 05/26/10 Plenary Address MENA Power 2010
  Cairo, Egypt

• 05/11/10 ANESA Senior Commercial Officers Conference
  Minneapolis, Minnesota

• 05/10/10 USA-India Business Summit
  Atlanta, Georgia

• 04/26/10 Trade Winds Forum Brazil
  São Paulo, Brazil

• 04/20/10 Asia-Pacific Business Council
  Los Angeles, California

• 04/12/10 The Obama Administration's Strategy for Sustainable Development: The Role of the Private Sector
  Paris, France

• 03/29/10 Remarks on the National Export Initiative
  Seattle, Washington

• 03/22/10 Remarks on the National Export Initiative
  Los Angeles, California

• 03/10/10 Remarks on the U.S. Trade Relationships with South Africa
  Johannesburg, South Africa