Ambassador N. Parthasarathi
Consul General of India, Consulate General of India, San Francisco
Ambassador N Parthasarathi graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1974 from Mysore University and served as an Executive Engineer with a major PSU in India till 1980. During this period, he also earned the degrees of MBA (International Marketing) and Post Graduate Diploma (Industrial Management) from Bangalore University in India.
Started serving as the Consul General of India in San Francisco from October 13, 2011.
Earlier, from September 2005 to September 2008, he was Ambassador of India to the Republic of South Korea.
From October 2008 to September 2011, he served as Ambassador of India to Senegal. He was also concurrently accredited as Ambassador of India to Mali, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde islands, as well as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of The Gambia.
Ambassador Parthasarathi joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1981 and has served as a diplomat in countries throughout the world, including in Belgium, Senegal, Pakistan, United Kingdom and Syria. He has also served in different capacities in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) in New Delhi.
Ambassador Parthasarathy’s hobbies include writing, spirituality, mentoring youth, golf and bridge. He has published two books: (i) ‘The Reluctant Assassin’, a fictional thriller, published in Delhi, in January 2005; and (ii) ‘Bi Dan Hwang Hoo’ (Silk Empress), a fictional novel linking the ancient history of India and Korea. The latter was translated in the Korean language and published in Seoul in June 2007.

 

As an ardent supporter of India Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) is serving his tenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 7th Congressional District in Washington State, which includes Seattle and parts of several neighboring communities. As a senior Member of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. McDermott is chairman of the Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee and also serves on the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. He has been to India more than 20 times and was recently re-elected to the two year term of being the Chair of the India Caucus in the House of Representatives. Always referred to as "A friend of India" by the US based Indian Community, Rep. Jim McDermott has been a strong supporter of US and India bilateral trade relationship.
Jim McDermott was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 28, 1936. He was the first member of his family to attend college and Jim went on to finish medical school. After completing his medical residency and military service, he made his first run for public office in 1970 and was elected to the State Legislature from the 43rd district in Washington State. In 1974, he ran for the State Senate, and subsequently was re-elected three times.
In 1987, after 15 years of legislative service, Rep. McDermott decided to leave politics and continue in public service as a Foreign Service medical officer based in Zaire, providing psychiatric services to Foreign Service, AID, and Peace Corps personnel in sub-Saharan Africa. When the 7th district Congressional seat later became open, he returned from Africa to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected in 1988 to the 101st Congress and is currently serving his 10th term representing 7th District and Seattle.
A physician, Rep. McDermott is especially interested in health care issues. While in the state legislature, he developed the Washington Basic Health Plan, the first state program in the country to provide low-cost health insurance to the unemployed and working poor. In the Congress, he is especially active in health care reform issues. He founded and chairs the Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS, and introduced the AIDS Housing Opportunities Act, for special housing assistance for people with AIDS. Rep. McDermott, the co-author of Single Payer health care legislation, is leading the fight in the House of Representatives to guarantee all Americans comprehensive health care coverage.

 

Mike McGinn
City of Seattle Mayor (Invited; Confirmation awaited)
Michael Patrick McGinn was elected the 52nd mayor of Seattle in November of 2009.
Mayor McGinn has been active in politics, law, and environmental advocacy since graduating college. He received his bachelor's degree, in economics, from Williams College in Massachusetts, and then worked for Oregon Democratic Congressman Jim Weaver as a legislative aide. After moving to Seattle to attend the University of Washington Law School, he served as president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, where he led campaigns to provide better housing and health benefits for students.
After graduating from law school, McGinn joined the Seattle law firm Stokes Lawrence and later became partner. He chaired the local chapter of the Sierra Club, where he oversaw work on state and local issues, and served on the organization's national political committee.
McGinn left the law firm to found Great City - a Seattle nonprofit that brought together neighbors, environmentalists and business leaders advocating for smart and responsible urbanism as the solution to many local, economic and environmental challenges.
In 2007 McGinn led a grassroots campaign to defeat a "Roads and Transit" ballot measure that would have required Seattle to help pay for 180 miles of suburban highways. The following year he worked to help pass the Sound Transit ballot measure to expand light rail. In 2008 McGinn co-chaired the Seattle Parks for All campaign that resulted in voter approval of the city's parks levy.
Before being elected mayor, McGinn also served on many neighborhood and environmental advisory committees, including the Green Ribbon Commission, Transportation Advisory Committee and Urban Sustainability Advisory Panel.
As one of six children growing up on Long Island, New York, Mayor McGinn was raised by educators: His mother was a school principal, his father the director of community services for their school district.
He lives in Greenwood with his wife and three children. The mayor enjoys riding his bike to work and helping coach his children's basketball team.

Conrad Lee
City of Bellevue Mayor
Mayor Conrad Lee, who was born in China and moved to Bellevue in 1967, is the first member of an ethnic minority to serve as Bellevue’s mayor.
Lee has served on the council since 1994 and was re-elected to a fifth term in 2009. His current council assignments include Bellevue Botanical Garden Board, Bellevue Convention Center Authority Board, King County Regional Transit Committee, and the Puget Sound Regional Economic Development District Board. A resident of Bellevue, Washington, Mr. Lee is also a leader in numerous community service organizations and activities and has received national appointments and elections to the Board of the National League of Cities and President of Asian Pacific-American Municipal Officials.
Lee earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Washington. Previous jobs include regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, engineer at Boeing, and Seattle Solid Waste division project manager. Lee and his wife Winnie have two adult children, a son and a daughter.

Reşat Kasaba is the Director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, and the Stanley D. Golub Chair of International Studies. He is Professor of International Studies, and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Civilization, Sociology, and Political Science, and held the Henry M. Jackson Professorship in 2007-2010.

Reşat Kasaba was born in Turkey and completed his early education in that country. He received his B.S. in Economics and Statistics from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (1977), and his Masters and Ph.D. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, in 1979 and 1985 respectively.

Kasaba’s main area of research has been the Ottoman Empire and Turkey and has covered economic history, state-society relations, migration, ethnicity and nationalism, and urban history. He is the author and editor of seven books and 41 articles dealing with the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, and the Middle East. Most recently, he edited volume four of the Cambridge History of Modern Turkey and wrote A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Empire, Migrants, and Refugees, (2010). Kasaba teaches courses that study the interaction between states and markets from a world-historical perspective, the impact of Islam in Italian cities, and the US war in Iraq. Kasaba has received grants from Andrew Mellon Foundation, Social Science Research Council, and the National Science Foundation. In 1999, he was the recipient of the University of Washington's Distinguished Teaching Award.

Diane Mooney is the Director of the Seattle U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC), U.S. Department of Commerce. With a staff of 6 International Trade Specialists, the USEAC is responsible for providing U.S. Government export promotion services to small and medium companies in western Washington State. Specifically, Diane works with the aerospace and defense community to assist companies in exporting their products, services and technologies.

 

She has been with the Department for 17 years, serving in a number of capacities, and has completed Temporary Duty assignments in Australia, Dubai and Italy.

 

Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Diane spent seven years at the Washington State Department of Commerce administering programs for environmental industry exports and value-added wood products.

 

Diane received her Bachelors in International Affairs and German at the University of Puget Sound, and trained in Germany at the Goethe Institute in both Munich and Freiburg. She received finished her Masters in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Diane is a true Northwest native, born in Seattle and raised in Edmonds, where she currently resides with her husband and three children.

Leader of the Gujarat delegation and "Vibrant Gujarat 2013" Road Show
Mr. Ravi Saxena obtained his degree in M. Sc (Physics) from Banaras Hindu University in the year 1971.
He joined the IAS in the year 1978 in Gujarat Cadre.
During a significant part of his career he was posted as Managing Director of PSUs like Handloom, Handicrafts and the State Textiles development Corporations. He contributed to the development of the Industrial and Economic infrastructure of Gujarat State as the Chief of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board.
He has served as Secretary in Department’s like Transport, Prohibition, Jails, Social Justice & Empowerment and Health as also Principal Secretary (Planning) for Gujarat State where he delivered new directions which are being tracked until now
He worked with the Department of Atomic Energy, Govt of India as Director, Nuclear Power. He has also represented Govt of India in the Boards of Directors of Indian Rare Earths, Electronic Corporation of India and Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
Presently He holds the Post of Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Science and Technology in the Government of Gujarat.

 

Mr. Rogers Weed
Director, Dept. of Commerce, State of Washington
Rogers Weed was appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire as Director of the Department of Commerce in March 2009. In appointing him to this agency cabinet position, Gov. Gregoire said Rogers is a proven leader and innovator. As director, Rogers will fulfill the governor’s clear mission to retain the jobs and companies that we have in our state today and attract new ones. His focus will be on forging effective partnerships with the business community, with other agencies in the public sector and with the legislature.
Rogers attended Duke University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science. After college he worked for the management consulting firm, Bain and Company in Boston, focusing on strategy and planning for companies in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing and high tech industries. Rogers received his MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He came to Seattle in 1990 to work at Microsoft and managed teams in the Windows, Mobile Devices, On-line Content and Consumer Software Divisions over his 15 years with the company. He was promoted to Vice President in 2001. Rogers has been a board member and volunteer for regional organizations focused on climate change and social services. He lives in Seattle with his wife and three sons.

 

CEO, Port of Seattle
Tay Yoshitani joined the Port of Seattle as its CEO in March 2007. He carries out policies set by the Port Commission and leads the Port’s operating divisions, including the 6th largest container port in the nation, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which welcomed more than 32.8 million passengers in 2011.

When he took the helm, Yoshitani set about ensuring that the organization’s commitment to sustainability rivaled its success as an economic engine. During his tenure, the Port has implemented successful air quality initiatives, invested in significant environmental remediation projects, and has instituted ambitious energy-saving and recycling programs. He created a Real Estate division to better manage the organization’s real estate holdings and consolidated the Port’s many capital development projects into one division that oversees all of the organization’s construction and procurement. He also established the Office of Social Responsibility, which works to ensure equal opportunities for small, minority and women-owned businesses to work with the Port.

Under his leadership, the Port has opened a new runway at Sea-Tac Airport, a new cruise facility at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal, and reopened Terminal 30 as a container facility.

From 2004 to 2007, Yoshitani served as Senior Advisor to the National Association of Waterfront Employers, providing industry expertise on port security and environmental issues.

As Executive Director of the Port of Oakland from 2001 to 2004, he led a significant expansion of both the seaport and airport, overseeing environmental permitting and planning that enabled the airport expansion to use “green building” technology. He was Oakland’s Deputy Executive Director from 1998 to 2001.

He is credited with creating the first master plan at the Maryland Port Administration, where he served as Executive Director from 1995 to 1998. As Deputy Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, 1989 to 1995, he oversaw the creation of the West Coast’s largest dry bulk export terminal.

A U.S. Army veteran, Yoshitani has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and earned his MBA at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He serves on the National Center for APEC Board and on the boards of a number of local Seattle civic and trade-related organizations.

Dr. Prabhu Pingali
Deputy Director of Agricultural Development
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Before joining Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Prabhu Pingali was the Director of the Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Pingali was also the President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) for the 2003-06 time period. He was the Vice-President of the IAAE from
1997-2000 and chairman of the program committee for the 24th International Conference of Agricultural Economists. He co-chairs the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment  Panel’s working group on Future Scenarios. He is also the editor of the newly established eJournal of Agricultural and Development Economics (e-JADE). Pingali has over twenty five years of experience in assessing the extent and impact of technical change in developing country agriculture in Asia, Africa and Latin America. An Indian national he earned a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University in 1982. He was Director of the Economics Program at CIMMYT, Mexico from 1996-2002. Prior to joining CIMMYT, he worked at the International Rice Research Institute at Los Baños, Philippines from 1987 to 1996 as an Agricultural Economist, and prior to that at the World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department from 1982-1987 as an economist. He was a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Food Research Institute, and an Affiliate professor at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. Prabhu Pingali has authored six books and over ninety referred journal articles and book chapters on technological change, productivity growth and resource management issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 
He has received several international awards for his work, including two from the American Agricultural Economics Association: Quality of Research Discovery Award in 1988 and Outstanding Journal Article of the Year (Honorable Mention) in 1995.

Dr. Diane Narasaki
Executive Director, Asian Counseling and Referral Services (ACRS)
Dr. Narasaki’s life has been governed by her passion for social justice. In the 1980s, she served as Associate Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest region of the American Friends Service Committee and as Executive Director of the Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office, an organization that works for human rights and workers’ economic justice through community organizing and economic development. Also in the 1980s, Dr. Narasaki played a role in overturning laws that allowed Japanese Americans to be interned during World War II.
In 1995, Dr. Narasaki became the Executive Director of the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle, Washington where a number of services are provided for Asian Pacific Americans. These services -- provided in 30 languages -- include assistance with nutrition, mental health, chemical dependency and domestic violence issues as well as employment training, legal aid, and naturalization and citizenship information. One of the largest organizations of its kind in the country, ACRS employs 160 staff who work with some 350 volunteers, serving as many as 20,000 clients.
In response to the 1996 welfare-reform laws that excluded immigrants and refugees from federally funded food, medical, and income assistance, Dr. Narasaki co-founded the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC), which she now chairs and which includes more than 100 Asian Pacific American groups. In 2004, Dr. Narasaki co-chaired the Asian Pacific American Community Summit, which brought together 5,000 Asian-Pacific Americans to learn about advocacy, citizenship, and voting.

Chairman of the Executive Board
Washington Tourism Alliance
Kevin is the Chairman and President of the Washington Tourism Alliance to advocate, promote, develop and sustain the economic well being of the Washington Tourism Industry. He is an alumnus of University of Washington with more than 35 years experience in private sector. He is member of the Board of trustees for the Seattle greater Chamber of Commerce and a founding board member of the Seattle Waterfront Historical Society. In 2011 he was honored by the Puget Sound business Journal as the Corporate Citizenship Philanthropist for companies under $20 million in gross revenue. Currently he is the CEO, President/Owner of Argosy Cruises, Royal Argosy & Tillicum Village. He is married to Carolyn Clark for 33 years and lives in Seattle with their 3 sons.

Dr. Vikramāditya Prakāsh grew up in Chandigarh, India. He received his B. Arch. from the Chandigarh College of Architecture, Panjab University (1986), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism from Cornell University, New York (1989, 1994). He taught at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad, India (1991 - 1993) and Arizona State University, Tempe (1994-1996) before coming to the University of Washington in Fall 1996. Dr. Prakāsh is an architect, urbanist and historian. He teaches studios, lecture courses and seminars on issues in global architecture and urbanism, contemporary theory and design. Dr. Prakāsh has published several paper and books including Chandigarh's Le Corbusier: The Struggle for Modernity in Postcolonial India (University of Washington Press, Seattle & Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 2002), A Global History of Architecture (with Francis DK Ching & Mark Jarzombek, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006) and Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon (co-edited with Peter Scriver, Routledge, 2007). A Global History is being translated into five languages. He is editor of the series on Modernism in India (Mapin Publishing), of which the first book The Architecture of Shivdatt Sharma is expected in summer 2012. The next will be on the work of Aditya Prakash. Currently Dr. Prakash is working a book on urbanization and globalization in India (contracted with Routledge, UK) and on a new textbook the history of the architecture of India.

 

Dr. Prakāsh has served as the Associate Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and as Chair of the Department of Architecture. Currently, he is the Director of the Chandigarh Urban Lab, dedicated to researching small and mid-size urbanism in globalizing India. A multi-year project the Chandigarh Urban Lab conducts studio based research on Chandigarh as it changing in response to globalization in search of sustainable urban practices for the future to Asia’s cities. Conducted in collaboration with the faculty and students of Chandigarh College of Architecture, the Lab actively engages local architects, landscape architects, urbanists, planners, activists and the local administration in its work.

Dr. Prakāsh is also partner in Verge Architecture with Leah C. Martin and Chetna Purnami. Verge Architecture is dedicated to sustainable and relevant design solutions in a changing world. It is co-located in Seattle and Chandigarh.

President, The York Group
Harald Horgen is an acknowledged expert in the field of helping software companies expand internationally, and with almost 30 years of global experience he has learned what it takes to build successful indirect channels. 

As the President and founder of The York Group, an international business development organization with offices and partners in 26 countries, Harald speaks from experience. He has been personally involved in setting up channels in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
He has worked with clients of all sizes, from small start-ups to industry giants such as Dell, Honeywell and Microsoft. His clients have come from more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., the UK, France, South Africa, Australia, Russia and India.
He speaks frequently at events and seminars on this subject around the world, and some of the organizations that have invited him to speak to their members or clients include:
• Microsoft – numerous break-out sessions at WPC
• NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) – Mumbai, India
• ASOCIO (The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation)
• Silicon Valley Bank, America's leading financial institution for the technology industry
• The U.S. Department of Commerce
• The ICEHOUSE - New Zealand
• The Innovation Hub – Pretoria, South Africa

A native and citizen of Norway, Harald attended high school in London, Canada, business school in Oslo and graduate school in Arizona. Fluent in English, Norwegian and French, he lived in France for 14 years and is now based in Bellevue, Washington.

Bill Glassford’s professional career began in Washington, D.C. where he was engaged in trade policy and promotion activities for the federal government. Joining Rainier Bank in 1979, Bill spent approximately 10 years in Asia, serving as the country manager for bank branches in Manila, Taipei, and Hong Kong. With a return to Seattle, he ran the international focused offices for the bank which were located in Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland, and New York. After initiating an international banking department for West One Bank, Bill went on to run the Asian International Private Bank for Bank of America, managing offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, and Hong Kong.

Bill lives in Seattle where he is actively involved in the community. He currently is Chairman of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, a partnership of nine government agencies and 160 member firms. In addition, he sits on the advisory board of the Henry M Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and the Japan America Society. He holds a BS degree from Penn State University and an MBA from George Mason University.

As founder and publisher of the Seattle Chinese Post and the Northwest Asian Weekly, Assunta’s leadership, accomplishments and generosity to the local Asian Community at large is incomparable. A native of China, Ng came to the United States in 1971 and supported herself through nearly her entire college education. She received a bachelor’s degree in international studies and education from UW in 1974, before earning a teaching certificate in 1976 and a master’s degree in communication in 1979. Ng began her journalism career as an undergraduate writing for the UW Daily. She taught social studies to immigrants at Mercer Junior High School for a few years until becoming increasingly aware of the lack of information available to Seattle’s Chinese community. It was then that she founded the Seattle Chinese Post in 1982, the first Chinese newspaper in the Pacific Northwest for half a century. One year later, she founded the Northwest Asian Weekly, the only English-language Asian weekly in the Northwest.

In addition to serving as the publisher for two newspapers, Ng devotes countless hours to volunteer efforts. She has established several community projects and organizations including the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, an organization that designs leadership, community-building and diversity training programs for youth and adults. Ng also established the Women of Color Empowered luncheon series to showcase women of all ethnicities.

She has helped to raise millions of dollars for many charitable causes including those that benefit foster children and the victims of domestic violence. In addition, Ng has donated funds to OMA&D’s EOP Scholarship program and raised money for scholarship endowments in the UW Evans School of Public Affairs and the UW Foster School of Business.

Ng has received countless awards and honors including the 2008 Wells Fargo Trailblazer Award for women in small business, the 2006 Hillary Clinton and Maria Cantwell Women of Valor Award, the 2005 Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award and the 1998 Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP) Distinguished Alumnus Award. She was inducted into the UW Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 and was named a UW Department of Communication Distinguished Alumna in 2005. She was conferred the Charles E. Odegaard Award by the University of Washington in 2011. WASITRAC honored her with the Building Bridges across the Nations Award in 2010 for her contributions in the field of Journalism.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Carla Murray is responsible for managing 114 properties in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada across all Starwood brands. Carla was promoted into this position following a series of General Manager positions she held at the St. Regis Aspen, The Westin Seattle, and The Sheraton Seattle from the years of 1998 – 2002.

In addition to her hospitality responsibilities, Carla has been deeply involved in positions within each of the communities she and her family have resided. In Seattle, she is the former Chair of the Downtown Seattle Association; past Chair of the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau and currently serves on their Board of Directors. She also serves on Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s President's Affiliates Council and Gala Board of Trustees, as well as the Seattle Hotel Associations “Evening of Hope” Board of Trustees. She and her daughter are members of the National Charities League.

Carla has received recognition from the Puget Sound Business Journal as a “Women of Influence” for 2007, Washington State Hotel & Lodging Association, as General Manager of the Year, 2001, and Travel & Leisure magazine cited the St. Regis Aspen with the “Best Service Award” during her tenure there in 1998. She has also been recognized for her accomplishments within Starwood by receiving the 2004 Leadership in Six Sigma award, as well as receiving the StarVoice – Starwood Engagement Index – Best in Class for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Carla received her B.A. in Communications from Stephens College in 1980. In 1979, she attended an off-campus semester at Oxford University, Oxford, England.

Carla resides on Mercer Island with her husband and two children.

Executive Director,
Economic Development Commission of Washington State

Egils Milbergs is the executive director of the Economic Development Commission of Washington State.  The Commission is charged with developing a long term economic development strategy. He was appointed by Governor Chris Gregoire on January 23, 2008 after a nation-wide search. He is a noted thought leader and strategist in global innovation, advanced manufacturing, competitiveness and public-private partnerships. He held previous positions as president and founder of the Center for Accelerating Innovation, president of the National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing, president of the Institute for Illinois, Deputy Assistant Secretary for productivity, technology and innovation for the U.S. Commerce Department, and executive director the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness. He is a graduate of Harvard College.

Albert Shen is a small business owner whose leadership has made a big impact on some of the Northwest’s largest and most critical infrastructure projects.

 

Shen Consulting is currently the project management engineering consultant on a new $400 million Rental Car Facility at Sea-Tac International Airport and is also on the engineering team for the new Seattle Waterfront Redevelopment Program. Prior, his team helped complete the long awaited Third Runway, 16L Runway Rehabilitation Program and other multi-million dollar projects for the Port of Seattle.

In 2009, Shen Consulting, Inc. received the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business of the Year award and in 2011 he was awarded the International Examiner’s Community Voice Outstanding Individual Award and also an Honoree for the 2011 NW Asian Weekly Asian American Pioneers in Social Entrepreneur. Recently in 2012, he was recognized as one of the Top 100 Asian American Businesses in the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce and was awarded the 2012 US Small Business Administration Region X Minority Champion of the Year Award.

Shen lends his expertise to support educational institutions, non-profit community organizations, civic committees, business organizations and political advocacy groups. He was appointed by Governor Gregoire to serve on the Seattle Community College Board of Trustees and was a Commissioner to the Washington State Commission on Asian and Pacific American Affairs to advise the Governor as the Vice Chair of Economic Development. He is a continuous advocate for the small business community on a variety of economic issues and has hosted numerous roundtables on small business economic development. Shen also serves on several non-profit boards, civic organizations and various roundtables, including:

• Vice Chair, Board of Trustees Seattle Community Colleges
• Past Council President Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority
• Board Member Susan G. Komen Puget Sound Affiliate Breast Cancer Foundation
• Executive Advisory Board Member National Association of Asian American Professionals
• Committee Chair Virginia Mason Medical Center Master Plan Citizen’s Advisory Panel
• Citizen Member City of Seattle Fire Department Levy Oversight Committee (Citizen member)
• Roundtable Host White House Business Council
• Pacific NW Representative Gateway to Government Solutions Advisory Board

Albert Shen was born in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in Pullman, Washington. His parents owned several small businesses, which continues to shape his business work ethic to this day. Shen is an alumni of the University of Washington, where he studied Chemistry and Environmental Science. Albert’s wife, Nancy and their two young children, Rachel and Alex reside in Southlake, TX.

Since 1996, Joseph B. Diehl has provided Executive Director services for three affordable housing associations in the Pacific Northwest region. These organizations represent the majority of property managers, owners, tribes and housing authorities in Washington State that provide a safety net for low income, disabled and elderly populations.  In 2010, Mr. Diehl began spearheading a new, innovative global effort to create and manufacture a safe and sanitary affordable housing product for world-wide manufacture and distribution. Mr. Diehl visited India in 1998 and recently, visited Orissa State in Northeastern India on a trade mission organized by the Washington State and India Trade Relations Action Committee (WASITRAC) in November 2010.  Two new organizations have just been formed in the summer of 2012 to launch this major global initiative:  "Sustainable Muhalla" - a nonprofit organization focused on research and development (including fundraising efforts), and the manufacturing arm, "Apna Aashiyana, LLC."

Arun is currently the Director for India in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which is the federal government agency responsible for the formulation and coordination of U.S. trade policy. In this capacity, Arun advises on all aspects of trade and investment policy regarding India, working with specialized offices within USTR as well as offices throughout the U.S. Government to develop and implement a coordinated India policy on trade and investment matters. This includes assisting U.S. farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and service providers that face barriers to the entry of their goods and services into India. Arun was formerly Associate General Counsel at USTR, where his duties included advising on legal issues relating to bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations, and litigating disputes under the World Trade Organization (WTO) on behalf of the United States. Following graduation from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Columbia Law School, Arun was a law clerk to Judge Jane A. Restani of the U.S. Court of International Trade and worked at a private law firm, where among other things he advised U.S. and Indian firms on trade issues relating to India and the United States, respectively. Prior to joining USTR, Arun served as Legal Affairs Officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO, where he advised the WTO in connection with a variety of disputes between WTO Members and conducted training on WTO issues for developing country Members.