International Trade, Power and Prosperity

Speakers for this event

• Ambassador Kevin McGuire

  Ambassador Kevin McGuire

  Kevin McGuire joined the Foreign Service in 1966. He served as Ambassador to Namibia; Economic Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission in Korea; Economic Minister in Italy; in economic positions in our embassies in Greece and Ireland as well as in the Economics and Business and International Organizations Bureaus in Washington. Other assignments included Director of Senior Assignments; and tours in Gabon as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires; and in Adelaide, Australia as Consul. McGuire spent many years in trade diplomacy. He was a member of the US team involved in negotiating the Free Trade Agreement with Canada, the precursor of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He was also involved in the Tokyo and Uruguay Round negotiations, which addressed tariff levels and non tariff barriers, provided dispute mechanisms and protection for intellectual property rights and in general fostered an exponential growth in international trade and investment. He was Deputy Head of Delegation at UNCTAD IX, where great progress was made on promoting the adoption of market based principles by developing countries. In Korea he played a leading and successful role in fighting unfair trade practices. As Chief of Mission in Namibia, he was part of the US effort to initiate PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has had such a great impact in Namibia and other participating nations in confronting the threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. After retirement in 2004 he was a senior inspector in the Office of the Inspector General. Also in retirement, as the Director of the Rangel International Affairs Program in its formative years, he made a significant contribution to improving diversity in the foreign affairs community. He did graduate level studies at Indiana University, Harvard University and the National War College. He was the recipient of many performance based awards at State, and a CIGIE Award from the interagency Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. He is married to Kay Cuddy McGuire, who accompanied him on all his tours and contributed greatly to his efforts to defend US interests

• Catherine Herndon

  Catherine Herndon

  Catherine Hill Herndon joined the U.S. State Department as an economic officer in 1985, retiring in 2019 as a Minister Counselor, having served in eight countries overseas in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. She also worked in Washington DC, and, in her last assignment, was the Policy Advisor (POLAD) to the Commander of US Central Command in Tampa, Florida. Now a resident of Tampa, Catherine speaks to student groups, volunteers in Hillsborough County, and serves on the board of the Foreign Service Retirees of FL. A graduate of Colgate University, Catherine received a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College (USAWC), and was a member of the USAWC faculty 2016-2017. She is married to Roger Herndon, who is also a retired State Department officer. Their son, James, is on active duty with the U.S. Space Force.

• Charles Alvarado

  Charles Alvarado

  Vice President of Int’l. Sales, AOCUSA/AMALIE Oil Company Charles has a BA in Business Administration with a mayor in Management from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and is a fully bi-lingual (English & Spanish), Certified Marketing Executive (CME® – Syracuse University), from the Sales & Marketing Executives International Association. He handles multiple continents and oversees more than 150 countries in the sales and distribution of various high-quality motor oils brands and industrial lubricants. After a successful twenty-year career as Marketing & Public Relations Director in an OEM auto manufacturer and distributor, Mr. Alvarado decided to switch careers and move into the “recycling” world, were he became for more than 7 years, General Manager of a hydro-processing used motor oil re-refinery, on the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico. During that time, Mr. Alvarado graduated and is a licensed Certified ISO Lead Auditor in the following categories; ISO 9001 Quality Management, ISO 14001 Environmental Management and OSHAS 18001 Occupational Safety & Health Administration Systems Management. That opportunity opened a new world for him and his new found countries, and he has been able to successfully maintain continuous export business ties with many commercial partners, especially in the Middle East. He has traveled extensively within, Europe, Middle East, Western Asia, Africa and India, among many other countries worldwide.

• Madison Lawson

  Madison Lawson

  Joining Enterprise Florida in August of 2021, Madison Lawson is the senior manager for foreign direct investment for the state-designated economic development organization. Madison manages all foreign direct investment inquiries into the state of Florida and oversees lead generation from 19 overseas international representatives in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. In her role, she runs the project management of foreign investment leads from initial inquiries to established Florida businesses through a statewide RFI process. In her previous position at Enterprise Florida, Madison served as the regional trade manager for the Tampa Bay area, providing export counseling to companies in 10 Florida counties. Her responsibilities included managing trade grants, promoting international trade shows and missions, and coordinating educational programs and events for Florida businesses interested or engaged in international trade. Madison’s background in international economic development began at the Tampa Bay EDC as the international business manager for the local organization as well as the manager for the regional trade and investment promotion partnership known as Global Tampa Bay. In this role she executed several trade missions to Latin America and foreign investment missions to Europe. She was also responsible for marketing and social media for the partnership as well as managing international project leads. With a master’s degree in International Development and Emerging Economies from King’s College London and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa, Madison has a depth of knowledge in international business and a personal connection to the Gulf Coast of Florida. While receiving her graduate degree, Madison worked at Catholic Relief Services to promote the use of innovative technology in international development projects. At the University of Tampa, Madison spent time conducting research on the informal economy in Cusco, Peru in addition to founding a social enterprise project in northern Ghana. In addition to her expertise in international economic development, Madison is a resident of Saint Petersburg, Florida, where she enjoys fishing, paddle boarding, and spending time at the beach.

• Sandra Campbell

  Sandra Campbell

  Sandra Campbell is the Director of the U.S. Commercial Service Tampa Bay, the local office for the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce located in Clearwater, Florida. Since 1998, Sandra has counseled and developed export strategies for small and medium-sized companies with U.S. products and services throughout the Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida regions. International projects have included Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Panama, Poland, and Spain, as well as brief assignments at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic and the U.S. Consulates in Vancouver, Canada and Milan, Italy. In 2016, Sandra did a rotation at the U.S. Department of State's Office of Commercial and Business Affairs (CBA) in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in Washington, D.C. She is also a member of the U.S. Commercial Service's Global Healthcare Technology and Global Education Teams. Sandra is a cum laude, honors program graduate from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Marketing and International Business, and minor in Italian. She has also attended Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England and the Università per Stranieri di Perugia in Perugia, Italy. Sandra is a member of the Tampa Bay Area Committee on Foreign Relations and alumna of the FBI Tampa Citizens Academy.