Obama Transition Agency Review Teams

The Obama Transition Team announced its appointments to some agency-specific review teams this past week.  The Transition team describes the purpose of the agency teams as

The Agency Review Teams for the Obama-Biden Transition will complete a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. The Teams will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in.  Obama-Biden Transition: Agency Review Teams

Both of the review team leaders for the USTR, Anna Gomez and Peter Cowhey, have strong telecommunications backgrounds:

United States Trade Representative Review Team Lead

Anna Gomez is the Vice President of Government Affairs for Sprint Nextel Corporation. She previously held several positions at the FCC including Deputy Chief at the International Bureau, Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman William Kennard, Chief of the Network Services Division, Federal Staff Chair of the Universal Service Joint Board, Legal Counsel to the Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau, and Attorney Advisor, to the Consumer Protection Division of the Cable Services Bureau. Gomez served briefly as Counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee Telecommunications Subcommittee before moving to the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff to the National Economic Council. She also was an associate at Arnold & Porter.

Peter Cowhey is Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Cowhey is an expert on international trade and regulatory issues. His newest book examines the transformation of global information and communications markets. He served as the Chief of the FCC’s International Bureau and was part of the team that successfully negotiated the WTO’s Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services. His memberships include the Council on Foreign Relations, the California Council on Science and Technology, and the board of the Grameen Foundation.

The Treasury Team is:

Department of the Treasury Agency Review Team Leads

Josh Gotbaum currently serves as an advisor to investment funds, with a special focus on restructurings and management turnaround. He was startup CEO of The September 11th Fund, a charity that serves people, businesses and non-profits. From 1994-2001, Josh held Senate-confirmed positions in Treasury, Defense, and OMB. From 1981-94, he was an investment banker, working on mergers and restructuring in North America and Europe. His clients included major corporations, unions, and government. He also has worked in the White House and at the Department of Energy.

Michael Warren is the Chief Operating Officer of Stonebridge International LLC. He also is on the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia Retirement Board, Catalist, the DC Minority Business Enterprise Center Advisory Board, Southeastern University's Center for Entrepreneurship, Civitas, Riptopia, and the National Child Research Center. Mr. Warren previously worked at McKinsey & Company, both as a strategic consultant in the technology and financial institutions industries and as a fellow of the McKinsey Global Institute. Mr. Warren served within the White House as Executive Director of the President's National Economic Council.

Here are the leads for the Council of Economic Advisors Team:

Council of Economic Advisors Team Leads

Audrey Choi leads Morgan Stanley’s Microfinance initiative, helping provide access to capital to micro-entrepreneurs. She is also Global Head of Leadership Development at the Firm, spearheading the development of outstanding female leaders at the firm. Audrey served in the Clinton-Gore Administration from 1996-2001 as Chief of Staff of the Council of Economic Adviser, policy advisor in the Office of the Vice President, Director of Strategic Policy at the Commerce Department (NTIA), and White House Fellow at the FCC. Prior to her government service, Audrey was a foreign correspondent and bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.

Michele Jolin is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she is developing ideas and tools for government investment in the work of social entrepreneurs, faith-based organizations and other non-profits. She is co-Editor of the book Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President, which was released on November 12, 2008. Previously Ms. Jolin served as Policy Director for Elizabeth Edwards during the 2004 Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign and as a Vice President at Ashoka, a global foundation that invests in leading social entrepreneurs. Jolin served as Chief of Staff for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors and worked for Senator Boxer on the Senate Banking Committee. She was also an Associate at the law firm Patton, Boggs and Blow, where she focused on international trade law.

There are a variety of other teams working on other economics and international trade issues.  Here's the list of team leaders working on trade or development related agencies:

Reed Hundt is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group overseeing review of the international trade and economics agencies.

Michael Warren is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group helping to oversee review of the international trade and economics agencies.

The working group has a number of teams.  Here are the teams that appear to cover trade related agencies:

International Trade Commission Review Team Lead

Peter M. Shane is the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. His research focuses on separation of powers law, and on the Internet and the future of democracy. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he clerked for the Hon. Alvin B. Rubin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Peter served as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and in the Office of Management and Budget, before entering full-time teaching in 1981.

International Trade Commission Review Team Lead

Peter M. Shane is the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. His research focuses on separation of powers law, and on the Internet and the future of democracy. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he clerked for the Hon. Alvin B. Rubin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Peter served as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and in the Office of Management and Budget, before entering full-time teaching in 1981.

International Lending Agencies Review Team Lead

Peter Blair Henry is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Economics at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

World Bank Review Team Lead

Lisa D. Cook is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. She has conducted research on banking crises in Russia, economic growth, and intellectual property. She has also advised the governments of Rwanda and Nigeria. She previously worked at the World Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and as Senior Advisor in Finance and Development at the Treasury Department where she focused on international financial crises and debt relief.

Export/Import-OPIC Review Team Leads

George Munoz is an attorney and CPA specializing in international business and financial advice concerning emerging markets. He previously served as the President and CEO of OPIC from 1997-2001 and as the Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Treasury from 1993-97. He also served on several corporate audit committees and has taught MBA modular courses at Georgetown University.

Nelson Cunningham is Managing Partner of McLarty Associates, the international strategic advisory firm he co-founded with former Clinton Chief of Staff Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty III. Cunningham was Special Advisor to President Clinton for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He previously served as a lawyer at the White House and on the Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Joseph R. Biden, and before that was a federal prosecutor in New York under Rudolph Giuliani specializing in international financial prosecutions. He serves on the boards of the Institute of the Americas, the Business Council for International Understanding and the American Security Project, and is a member of the Yale University President's Council on International Activities, the Council of Americas, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Review Team Lead

Alan H. Fleischmann is managing director of ImagineNations™ Group, an organization focused on global youth employment and youth entrepreneurship. Previously, he served as Staff Director of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. He was also the Chief of Staff to Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the Vice President of LATCORP, Inc., and Senior Associate of the Chase Manhattan Private Bank (JP Morgan Chase).

Foreign Assistance (USAID, MCC and PEPFAR) Review Team Leads

Gayle E. Smith is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she leads the Sustainable Security Program, Co-Chairs the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and is Co-Founder of the ENOUGH Project. She is a member of the HELP Commission and serves on the boards of Oxfam, the Africa America Institute and the National Security Network, and on the advisory boards of the Acumen Fund, DATA/ONE Campaign, and the Center for a New American Security. Smith served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration.

Aaron Williams is Vice President for International Business Development and is responsible for representing RTI International’s consulting practice in the Washington, DC office. Williams has over 25 years of experience in policy formulation, strategic planning, and the design and implementation of development assistance programs. As a senior manager at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and as Executive Vice President at the International Youth Foundation, Williams created and managed innovative public-private partnerships between global corporations, government entities (USG and host country), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international foundations. Williams was awarded the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award in 1998 and the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service in 1992 and 1988.

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