Rosa Whitaker

Rosa Whitaker
Nationality American
Alma mater American University, Washington, D.C.
Occupation CEO and President of the Whitaker Group
Spouse(s) Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams (m. 2008)

Rosa Whitaker is the CEO and President of the Whitaker Group, a Washington, D.C.-based consultancy specializing in trade and investment in Africa.[1] She previously served as the first ever Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.[2] In this capacity, she developed and implemented the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other bilateral and multilateral trade policy initiatives towards Africa.[3] In 2010, Whitaker was named one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers.[4]

Background

Whitaker was born in Washington, D.C. and holds Master’s and bachelor's degrees from American University in Washington, D.C. and has completed studies in the United Kingdom and Italy as well as at the Foreign Service Institute. She is often on the public speaking circuit and has lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Defense University. In April 2008, Whitaker married Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, overseer of Christian Action Faith Ministries Worldwide.[5] In 2014, Whitaker and Duncan-Williams were named one of Africa's "Power Couples".[6]

Career

Early career

At 28, Whitaker was appointed the Executive Director of the Office of International Business for the city of Washington, DC, making her one of the youngest people leading an international economic agency for a major municipal government.

Diplomacy

As a career diplomat, Whitaker served in Africa and the State Department's Office of International Energy Policy. She served as the Executive Director of the Washington, D.C. Office of International Business, initiating projects to support Africa’s business development.

Senior Trade Adviser

Before joining the US Office of the Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President of the United States where she worked closely with current World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick and Ambassador Josette Sheeran, current Executive Director of the World Food Program.[7] Rosa Whitaker was Senior Trade Policy Adviser to Congressman Charles Rangel, the current Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. In that position, she was one of the hands-on architects of AGOA and helped develop the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus in Congress. She was responsible for advising Congressman Rangel on a broad range of issues related to the World Trade Organization, Africa, China and global competitiveness.[8]

United States Trade Representative

Whitaker started the United States Trade Representative's Office of African Affairs and was the lead U.S. negotiator for trade agreements with African countries.[9] Under her leadership, the U.S. was credited with a string of initiatives to enhance American trade, investment and economic cooperation with African countries. According to the Los Angeles Times, the contacts she made while in this job helped establish the basis for her future career.[10]

The Whitaker Group

After leaving USTR in 2003, Whitaker launched the Whitaker Group (TWG), a consultancy focused on bringing trade and investment to Africa and assisting African countries to maximize tangible trade and investment gains from AGOA and related initiatives. Since its launch, TWG has represented several African countries including Uganda, Ghana, Lesotho, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria, and has worked with numerous others on a host of trade, investment and health issues. In late 2008, TWG opened an office in Accra, Ghana, and has established a network of strategic partners across sub-Saharan Africa.[11]

Beginning in 2006, Whitaker expanded TWG's sphere of interest to include health issues in Africa. Working with the Global Health Progress initiative, she seeks to develop partnerships between governments and the private sector with the goal of strengthening African health systems.[12]

In 2009, Whitaker began to focus the work of TWG on providing strategic counsel to global companies with business interests in Africa. In 2013, TWG expanded its focus to include mobilization of global financing and developers to expand infrastructure in Africa under its "We Build You Grow" initiative. As of 2014, TWG had helped to develop $7 billion in infrastructure projects in the continent. In the same year, Whitaker announced plans to develop a Technology Fund to invest in African tech companies. and working with global technology firms, to navigate and expand their footprint in Africa.[13] cu

As the co-chair with the late Congressman Jack Kemp of the AGOA Action Committee, Whitaker has remained at the forefront of efforts to strengthen AGOA and ensure its relevance in the ever changing landscape of world trade.[14][15]

Awards and professional affiliations

Whitaker has received numerous honors, including the 2001 Africa-America Institute Award for Promoting U.S.-Africa Trade Relations[16] and the Annual Achievement Award from the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel in 2000.[17] In 2002, she was named Woman of the Year in International Trade[18] by the Association of Women in International Trade[19] and, in 2003, was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Trade by the Consumers for World Trade.[20]

In 2008 Bennett College named her a Woman with the Audacity to Excel,[21] along with civil rights pioneer Dr. Dorothy Height and three other African-American women leaders. In June 2009, Whitaker was given the Business Leadership Award by the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation.[22]

Foreign Policy (FP) Magazine, the premiere, award-winning magazine of global politics and economics, honored Whitaker as one of its Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2010.[23] She was joined on the list by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett, who shared a headline for their leadership in fighting global health and development challenges, World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick and former International Monetary Fund head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, among others. Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which awards prizes to African leaders for good governance, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Judge Unity Dow of Botswana, advocate for women’s rights and the rights of indigenous peoples, represented additional African perspectives.

Face2FaceAfrica, a media group focused on mobilizing the African diaspora in support of the continent, recognised Whitaker with its 2016 Trailblazer Award.[24]

Whitaker is a member of the Executive Board of Mercy Ships, a faith-based charity that has for the past 30 years operated hospital ships in developing nations. She serves on the Board of the Bethune-Du Bois Fund, a scholarship program for minority students created in honor of Mary McLeod Bethune and W. E. B. Du Bois. She joined the Executive Board of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)[25] in 2010. She has served as vice chair of the U.S.-South Africa Business Council.[26]

Whitaker is also a guest columnist for AllAfrica.com.,[27] and has had opinion pieces published in a variety of publications including the Wall Street Journal.[28] She is a widely sought-after expert on business, trade and investment in Africa in a variety of venues and has been a guest on broadcasts on ABC News, CNN, the BBC and Bloomberg.[29][30][31][32]

References

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