President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 11/13/2009

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

• Walter Crawford Jones, United States Executive Director, African Development Bank
• Leocadia I. Zak, Director, United States Trade and Development Agency

President Obama will also appoint Olivia Morgan to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

President Obama said, “I am grateful that these exceptional individuals will serve in these important positions, and their experience will be valued in my administration.  I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

Walter Crawford Jones, Nominee for United States Executive Director, African Development Bank
Walter C. Jones has worked in the areas of international development, business, law and finance for over 20 years.   Over the course of his career, Mr. Jones has participated in and managed numerous financial transactions worldwide including in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.  Mr. Jones is currently a Senior Investment Officer at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) where he structures debt financings for small and medium enterprise projects worldwide.  Earlier at OPIC, Mr. Jones was a Manager handling business development in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia.  Mr. Jones began his professional career as an associate at the law firm of Sidley & Austin.  Mr. Jones later served as a Legislative Assistant on the personal staff of United States Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD, ret.) handling foreign relations and banking matters.  Mr. Jones was also an international consultant advising clients on financial, debt restructuring and investment matters.  Mr. Jones later served as General Counsel and head of private equity for Gravitas Capital Advisors.  Mr. Jones served on several corporate and non-profit boards of directors including most recently on the Board of Directors for Atlas Energy, Inc. (NASDQ), and earlier on the Atlas Energy Resources, LLC (NYSE) Board of Directors.  Mr. Jones is a graduate of Princeton University and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Harvard Law School and the George Washington University School of Business and Management. 

Leocadia I. Zak, Nominee for Director, United States Trade and Development Agency
Leocadia I. Zak assumed the duties of Acting Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on January 20, 2009.  She was named Deputy Director of USTDA in January 2006 and served as General Counsel from April 2000 to December 2005.  Prior to joining USTDA, Ms. Zak was a partner in the Washington, D.C. and Boston offices of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. practicing in the areas of corporate, municipal and international project finance.  Ms. Zak has taught “International Project Finance” as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Boston University School of Law and at the Georgetown University Law Center.  Ms. Zak received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

President Obama also appointed the following individual to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities:

Olivia Morgan, Member, President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
Olivia Morgan is the former Executive Director of the Children's Health Forum and a former principal of the Dewey Square Group, where she worked on communications strategies with a special emphasis on nonprofit development.  Prior to Dewey Square she served as the Director of Federal Relations for former California Governor Gray Davis, as national spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and as Press Secretary for then-Lieutenant Governor Davis.  In addition to serving on the Board of the Children's Health Forum, Ms. Morgan serves on the Advisory Board of The New England Center for Children, as an advisor to Climate Cartoons, and as senior advisor to A Woman's Nation.