President and Chairwoman of the Export-Import Bank – Reta Jo Lewis – USGLC

Reta Jo Lewis

President and Chairwoman of the Export-Import Bank

Reta Jo Lewis serves as the President and Chairwoman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Previously, Ms. Lewis served as the special representative for global intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. State Department during the Obama Administration and special assistant to the president for political affairs during the Clinton administration. Reta Jo Lewis is also a former Senior Fellow and Director of Congressional Affairs with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Past statements on development, diplomacy, and U.S. global leadership:

On U.S. Global Leadership: “Throughout my career, I have sought to connect the best of America with the world. I have led effective teams in supporting American businesses and built international partnerships shaped by American values.” (Source)

On Diplomacy: “I think it’s really going to be a time, not only for a whole of government approach, but it’s also going to be a time for an era of engagement for all Americans which will definitely include the American public to be a part of how we move forward and look at our foreign policy.” (Source)

On COVID-19: “Domestic policy on both sides of the Atlantic has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and this is added to the instability that has been accentuated by the inherent weaknesses in western democracies grappling with long-standing needs to reverse generations of inequity and exclusion.” (Source)

On Cross-Cultural Awareness: “You have to understand the cultures of which you are entering into, and you have to have the respect to want to understand the differences that everybody brings to the table and people bring something different to the table.” (Source)

On Climate Change: “To avert a catastrophic global temperature rise of 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the United States and other nations must commit to substantially greater emissions reductions. This can be accomplished through integrating the emissions reduction commitments made by cities, businesses, and other local actors into the calculation of countries’ nationally determined contributions under the Paris Accord.” (Source)