Baltimore/Washington Advisory Board

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Baltimore/Washington Advisory Board

This board consists of insightful business leaders advising Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington in our efforts to support international trade and businesses in the region.

Tarun Chopra

Board Chair, Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington.

CEO at Varada LLC

Tarun Chopra is a highly accomplished global executive, distinguished by his unique experience of living on four continents and working across six. He is an award-winning transformational leader known for driving corporate growth through strategic insight, innovative perspectives, and a commitment to positive change. With extensive expertise in leading high-performance teams across diverse geographies, industries, and cultures, he brings a wealth of knowledge to every organization he serves. Tarun holds an MBA, is a Chartered Accountant (CPA equivalent), and has certifications in Blockchain and SAP, reflecting his commitment to continuous learning and professional excellence. He is a respected public speaker and thought leader, with insights featured in prominent publications such as the Wall Street Journal and CFO Magazine. His career spans roles with Fortune 500 companies and leading organizations, including Clements Worldwide, Fannie Mae, Whirlpool Corporation, Ernst & Young (EY), Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Gallagher.

Brenda Harrington

Emeritus Advisory Board, Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington.

President and Founder, Adaptive Leadership Strategies

Brenda works with organizations to improve business performance by focusing on the development of leadership and professional capabilities. As a Global Mobility and Transition Coach, she offers programs to support the success of international assignments and projects and globally dispersed teams. Brenda is a formally trained Executive Coach (Georgetown University) and certified Global Mindset Inventory facilitator (Thunderbird School of Global Management). Brenda’s professional career includes leadership positions at Mobil Oil and AT&T. She is the former Executive Vice President of a Washington, DC area property management firm.

Chris Bennett

Attorney, Consultant & Entrpreneur at Technology-Innovation-Law LLC

Chris Bennett is an MBA/JD/CPM with 30+ years of experience in general management – focused on executing the mission of his social impact startup (T-I-L®), which is to "democratize intellectual property rights for marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs, by making it easier and less costly to protect and to monetize their innovation". Chris's knowledge is deep, in the areas of technology, innovation, and law, and functionally broad (business analysis, finance, law and regulatory, product and services development, technology operations and strategy) both the public and private sectors. He has a record of developing and implementing change within large and small organization(s), creating $0.5B (US) of aggregate financial value. Chris is skilled in building innovative data and fact driven solutions for sustainable business models. Select results include:
• Entrepreneurship – Led three equity startups and four ("intrapreneur") programs at established organizations
• Finance – Budget, cost, revenue, investment lead for private and public sector
• Innovation(s) – 36 valued at $112MM for private sector and $71MM for government
• Management – Teams of 4-12 direct reports and up to $34MM budget
• Project Management - 116+ projects - 99% on budget, 100% in compliance
• Strategic Partnering - 22 successful strategic contract, venture, partner negotiations

Chris's academic and professional education include: Degree - JD (Georgetown), MBA (Penn/Wharton), BA (MSU/JCSU); Certification - Certified Public Manager & Six-Sigma (George Washington), Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies (Stanford), Executive Data Science (Johns Hopkins). He lives in the Metro Washington DC area with life partner Jan, invests time in staying connected with three young adult kids and extended family, enjoys performing arts, public service, and participating in extreme athletic events to raise awareness and resources for "good causes".

Ellen Meinhart

International Trade Manager at Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Ellen  is an International Trade Manager for VEDP’s Northern Virginia office, where her mission is to assist companies with increasing their sales revenue through exporting.

Ellen’s career and education has focused on international sales, business development and marketing. She has lived, worked and/or studied in Germany, France, Australia and Brazil, in addition to successfully completing projects involving China, Egypt, Chile, England and Canada. Ellen has an M.B.A. in marketing and international business from Wright State University and a B.S. in marketing and French from Miami University.

For five years prior to joining VEDP, Ellen ran Starting Gate Global, an outsourced business development company that increased sales for international companies entering the U.S. market. Prior to that, she lived in Australia for three years and launched a Microsoft/ Australian Capital Territory-funded information technology (IT) initiative called Canberra.NET. She has also worked in the exporting departments of two manufacturers, Krauss Metalworks and Sonax, located in Germany, as well as for IBM and NCR.

Elshan Baloghlanov

Managing Director at WCC International  

As Managing Director at WCC International, Elshan runs a team of experts in import-export management helps businesses conduct cross-border trade and help them move goods, services, processing/packaging equipment and intermediate materials across international borders of the United States. Elshan holds a degree in International Commercial Law form the University of California Davis School of Law.

Floyd DesChamps, P.E.

President, The Desner Group, LLC  

Mr. DesChamps has a proven record of leadership with over 30 years of developing science and technology policy, conducting research and development, and designing and manufacturing complex technical systems in both the public and private sectors. Currently, Mr. DesChamps is President of the Desner Group, an international research and engineering management consulting firm, which provides strategic, policy, and technical advice to clients on energy, science and technology matters.  He has also provided strategic direction to the legislators and parliamentarians from around the world on their activities with the U.S. Congress.

Jennifer Clinton, PhD

President & CEO Cultural Vistas

Jennifer has devoted her career to international education and business because of a deep passion for bridging cultures, people, and ideas. She is best known for developing, implementing, and managing bold organizational transitions, as well as helping individuals and nonprofits to realize their full potential.

As the President & CEO of Cultural Vistas, she leads a team of 80+ team members who are trusted partners in immersive global exchange delivering whose diverse programs that develop 4000+ leaders at all levels (from 130 countries) who are curious, culturally competent and globally engaged. 

During her tenure at Cultural Vistas, Jennifer has strengthened the organization’s programs clarifying programmatic outcomes; standardizing, monitoring and evaluation processes; and expanding its reach of destinations and backgrounds of participants.  Jennifer with her team, has worked to evolve Cultural Vistas’ organizational culture to be one that is inclusive, transparent, people-centric, adaptive, and collaborative.  She has worked to grow partnerships more broadly, refine the organization’s value proposition and increased philanthropic support for the organization through strong board development and engagement.  

Prior to joining Cultural Vistas, she served as President and CEO of Global Ties U.S., where she led a grassroots network of 120 community-based organizations around the world that engage 40,000 volunteers who implement public diplomacy programs in partnership with the U.S. Department of State.  Jennifer has also held leadership roles at the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, the Telecommunications Industry Association, and the International Development Finance Corporation. 

Jennifer serves on the boards of Women’s Foreign Policy Group, the Alliance for International Exchange, and the Global Chamber of DC/MD.  

She earned her executive MBA at the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business; Ph.D. in French Literature at the University of California, Davis; and her bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Marquette University. Jennifer grew up outside of Detroit and lives in Maryland with her husband and son. 

LeAnn Young, Global Advisor

Global Business Principal Consultant at IntroSpect Marketing

Global Advisor at Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington

LeAnn Young is the Founder of IntroSpect Marketing, a global business and marketing consultancy that guides clients through planning and execution of growth initiatives. As principal consultant, Ms. Young uses her global business experience and broad sales and marketing expertise to create and implement programs that support attainment of business and financial objectives. She assists government agencies, associations, and businesses of all sizes to establish and implement focused paths forward for retention, growth, and acquisition of business. She utilizes her export and import knowledge, and global business acumen, to enable clients to support/manage / execute international trade activities and global programs.

Previously, Ms. Young launched Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington and led the organization as its first Executive Director. She also served as International Channel Manager for Vectorworks, as Global Marketing Senior Manager at both Prometric and Notable Solutions, and as International Marketing and Trade Specialist at PTC International. Ms. Young is a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) and holds a M.B.A. in International Business, Marketing from The American University in Washington, D.C.  

Jessica Reynolds

Acting Director for the Office of Int'l Investment & Trade at Maryland Dept. of Commerce

Jessica Reynolds is the Acting Director for the Office of International Investment and Trade at the Maryland Department of Commerce. She previously served as a regional manager in this office, covering South Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Prior to joining Commerce, Mrs. Reynolds worked as a consultant for an economic development and planning firm, and as a Senior Manager and consultant in the international economic development field, working on US Government, World Bank, and other international donor projects. She started her international career as an intern at the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore. Mrs. Reynolds holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola University Maryland. 

Larry Brill  

Principal at Export Trade Consultants

Deputy Director at Global Chamber® Baltimore/Washington

Larry works with small and medium sized companies to facilitate their export sales in new global markets. This includes marketing and trade development, analysis of trade barriers and how to overcome such barriers, finding qualified local partners, and developing international trade show programs. His specialties include international marketing and export promotion. Larry is the Deputy Director of the Global Chamber Baltimore/Washington Chapter. Previously he was Director of the Export Expansion Division, Office of Textile and Apparel at the International Trade Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He supported U.S. textile and apparel companies expanding in international markets including helping with marketing and logistical support for export related activities. 

Peter Grabiec

Vice President, Global Recovery Group, LLC

Peter is an international business professional with extensive experience living and working across 5 continents. He has built a record of success deploying a broad range of disciplines across industries with a focus in sustainable economic development, public private partnerships, supply chain logistics, international trade, and project finance. Peter works with the leadership team at Global Recovery Group, LLC (GRG) as they manage a global resource network bringing value to clients through consulting, due diligence, investigations, and asset recovery services in trade and project finance. 

Varghese Robert George

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Westex Group

Varghese is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Westex Group Inc., a full-service global procurement company based in Rockville, Maryland, which he founded in 1983.

Prior to founding Westex Group Inc., he was a Vice President of Operations at Multi-World Inc. in Washington DC. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at the Community College of Baltimore and the American University in Washington DC, where he taught business, marketing, and international trade.

Besides running successful international business, Varghese served on the Boards of numerous reputable institutions during his career including the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, CSIS Washington DC Policy Round Table, the Bridging Nations Foundation, the World Trade Center of Baltimore, the Baltimore Council of Foreign Trade, the Washington Metro Region Board of BB&T Bank, and the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.

With over 40 years of experience in global business, he is a renowned expert in international trade and investment and was invited to testify in front of the United States Congress numerous times on trade issues.

Varghese holds an MBA as well as a BA from the Loyola University of Maryland. 

Chris Klug

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