Tomáš Hart has been an Economic Counsellor at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C. since August 2013. He was an Economic Counsellor in New York in 2007-2011. He also worked for Embassy of the Czech Republic in Belgrade in 2000-2005 as an Economic Attache.

In the years of 2006-2007 he worked as an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. From September 2011 to April 2012 he was an advisor to the General Manager at CzechTrade, trade promotion agency of Czech Republic. From June 2012 to July 2013 he was a Secretary to the Economic Section of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Prior to working for Czech govermnent, he worked as a Marketing and Sales Manager of a Swedish company GCE Autogen in Chotebor, Czech Republic.

Tomas Hart graduated from two universities: Technical University in Saint-Petersburg, Russia (1995) and Prague’s University of Economics (2004). He also holds an MBA from University of New York in Prague (2013).

EDUCATION                                                                    Master of International Relations, 2004, CCNY, City University of New York, USA
Bachelor of Business Administration, 1991, College of International Trade, Budapest Business School, Hungary
Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature, 1986, College of Education, University of Szeged, Hungary
Bachelor of Arts in English and Hungarian Language and Literature, College of Education, University of  Pecs, Hungary

POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

Leadership program on Japan, 2008, Scholarship of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
Studies in Trade and Investment Diplomacy, 1998, University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, British Know How Fund, Hungary
Foreign Investment Promotion Studies, 1998, Scholarship of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Japanese Foreign Trade Promotion Program, 1997, University of Kobe, Scholarship of the Government of Japan, Japan
English Language and Literature Program, 1990, Scholarship from the British Council, United Kingdom

WORK EXPERIENCE

2011-Present   First Counselor, Head of the Hungarian Economic Representatives in the U.S., Embassy of Hungary, Washington, DC,                                            Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2005-2011        Director, Bilateral economic relations with BRIC and overseas developed countries, Ministry for National Economy, Hungary
2004-2005       Trade Commissioner, Hungarian Trade Commission, Chicago, USA
1999-2003        Deputy Trade Commissioner, Hungarian Trade Commission, New York, USA, Embassy of Hungary,
1987-1999          Counselor, Desk Officer for USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New-Zealand, previously involved in IBRD, EBRD, IMF issues and topics,                                      Ministry of Economy, Budapest, Hungary
1980-1987          Teacher Jozsef Attila Junior High School, Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary

FURTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

Lecturer: International Economics in English at the Budapest Business School, Hungary
Translator and Interpreter for the Office of Immigration and Nationality of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Hungary

Philippe Yvergniaux was appointed President of the Invest in France Agency (IFA) in North America in September 2009. In this role, he is charged with leading efforts to promote France as an ideal business destination for North American businesses looking to expand in the European market.

Having worked in foreign investment and development more than 20 years, Yvergniaux brings with him a combination of global field work and leadership experience. In his most recent post with the Agency, Mr. Yvergniaux served as the director of the UK and Ireland office.

Prior to joining IFA, Mr. Yvergniaux served as Chief Executive Officer of NFX, the IFA regional partner representing the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Northern France) region, from 1998 to 2005.
From 1993 to 1998, he was Director for International Projects at Ouest-Atlantique, the IFA partner for Western France (Bretagne, Pays de Loire and Poitou-Charentes) Mr. Yvergniaux also worked in Indonesia, Haiti, Africa and South America as a civil engineer for various rural development, road construction and irrigation projects.

Mr. Yvergniaux received a degree in engineering from the renowned Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, holds a Ph.D. in mechanics from INP Grenoble, and is an alumnus of the IHEDATE-Paris (Higher Institute for Territorial Planning and Regional Development in Europe). He is Ingénieur Général of the Corps de Ponts, des Eaux et des Forêts (French Corps of civil engineers). He is married with 4 children.

James Clad consults for energy and investment firms, and is senior adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses and at Jane’s Defence and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). During 2002-10, he served as US deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia, and as senior counselor at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Agency for International Development. From 1995-2002 he held a Georgetown University Luce foundation professorship and was, concurrently, Director/Asia-Pacific Energy at CERA.

Trained as a New Zealand lawyer, his career has focused on Asian commercial and security affairs broadening after 2002 to include the Middle East. In the 1980s-90s, he wrote for the Far Eastern Economic Review, and had fellowships from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, from the Carnegie Endowment, and from Harvard’s Center for International Affairs. He also served in the New Zealand diplomatic service.

His first book, Business, Money & Power in Southeast Asia (1991), surveyed Asian capitalism while his next, After the Crusade (1996), critiqued US foreign policy. His most recent book is a volume on political geography, The Borderlands of Southeast Asia. He received the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award in 2009 and, in June 2011, became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a royal honor. He is married to Aurora Medina, a World Bank official, and has three children.

Lorraine McCord is the Creative Director and Founder of Xworks Project an online international business blog, training and consulting platform. Prior to starting Xworks Project, she served for 10 years as the Director of the North Texas International Trade Center SBDC where she was responsible for providing training, counseling and market research services to businesses in the North Texas areas as well as managing a team of advisors who helped hundreds of companies achieve export sales totaling $50 million. She has more than 10 years experience working for Fortune 500 companies such as EDS and Regions Bank in strategy and planning, international finance and internal audit.  Lorraine has worked and traveled extensively in the Asia Pacific region and has spoken extensively at national and international conferences on the topics of small business and international trade. She currently serves on the faculty of Richland College’s International Business and Trade division. Lorraine previously served on the board of governors of the North American Small Business and International Trade Educators (NASBITE) and the Dallas Furniture Bank. She holds a MBA in International Management from Thunderbird in Glendale, AZ and is both a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP).