|
Tom Woods, is President of Woods |International LLC, a private sector consulting focused on economic growth strategies and public private partnerships for African development. He is also a Senior Associate Fellow with the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC and is a leading expert on relations, human and economic development and political and security issues in Africa.
Tom served as the Deputy/Assistant Secretary of State for Africa (2004-2006) and led U.S. engagement with 25 countries in west and southern Africa. He also led U.S. economic policy toward Africa, including trade and investment issues. He has been instrumental in shaping U.S. policy on Africa and driving the change from a focus on aid to a focus on trade partnership. M. Woods led US Government engagement on Africa Energy Security and he chaired me first Bilateral Conference on U.S.-Nigeria Energy Cooperation. Mr. Woods helped develop the first major public private partnership between leading oil companies, donors and the Government of Nigeria to reduce violent conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
Tom led U.S. Government strategies to support a return to democracy in Zimbabwe and engineered the U.S, targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime. He also oversaw preparations for the 2005 Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Conference in Senegal, which was attended by over eighty ministers of trade and foreign affairs. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice attended as part of her first Africa visit while in office.
Tom also served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (2002-2004 and served as the State Departments in Charge for Democracy and Human Rights in Africa (1998-2000). Tom began his government career as a Presidential Management Fellow within the Slate Department Bureau of African Affairs. Tom earned a BA in International Studies and economics with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School Advanced international Studies.
|
