GDEI Trade Mission to the Caribbean Region

Jennifer is the Regional Senior Commercial Officer for the Caribbean based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.She coordinates U.S Department of Commerce activities across the DR, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

Previously, Jennifer was the organization’s Senior Advisor for Career Development and Assignments of the 250+ Foreign Service Officer Corps and advised on strategic staffing and resourcing policies and programs worldwide.  Other assignments include serving as the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary; the Deputy Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in London, UK where she monitored nascent HMG policies affecting U.S. interests in response to the pro-Brexit vote; the Senior Commercial Officer in Almaty, Kazakhstan; the  Commercial Officer at the U.S. Mission to the European Union; and the Commercial Officer at the U.S. Export Assistance Center Boston, MA.  Before joining the Foreign Service, Jennifer worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC and in the private sector as a consultant to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).  Jennifer has an M.A. from George Washington University and a B.A. from Bucknell University.

Bryan Goldfinger is currently posted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, serving as a Commercial Officer covering the Caribbean Region with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service, part of the Department of Commerce.

Bryan previously served as the Digital Attaché in Brasilia, Brazil, following a post at the Dallas-Ft. Worth U.S. Export Assistance Center, where he covered the Design & Construction, Environmental Technology, and Marine Technologies portfolios.

Prior to his work with the Dept. of Commerce, Bryan spent several years in Business Development with a national commercial solar developer based in California, where he partook in the development of over 100 megawatts of solar projects. Mr. Goldfinger previously worked in the non-profit sector as the Nicaragua Country Director of an international development organization that focused on primary school construction in rural communities. During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of 54 public schools, now operated by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education. Bryan began his career in the audit practice at KPMG in Orange County, California.

Bryan holds a degree in Business Administration with concentrations in International Management and Accounting from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Daniel Gaines is assigned to Georgetown, Guyana as the Senior Commercial Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service (CS).

Prior to this assignment, Daniel served as a Commercial Officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Nairobi, Kenya.  He has also served stints as the Acting Senior Commercial Officer for CS Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Within the United States, Daniel served as the Director of the CS Phoenix Export Assistance Center (USEAC), as a Senior International Trade Specialist in the Northern Virginia USEAC, and has experience in Washington, DC from his time in the Office of the Assistant Secretary & Director General in Commerce Headquarters.

Daniel holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from the University of Alabama and a Masters in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management.  

Timothy Cannon has been with the Department of Commerce since 2003. Prior to joining the Commercial Service, Tim was a Marine at the barracks in Washington, D.C. where he served as a Presidential Honor Guard. After the Marines he worked as a Personal Protection Officer. He then pursued a career in sales with Gallo Winery, Miller Brewing, and Red Bull. After the beverage business, Tim accepted a position with an aerospace company and while attending the Paris and Australian Airshows, Tim utilized the services of the Commercial Service. He was impressed with their assistance and decided to return to the service of the government as a Commercial Officer himself. Since then, Tim has served in Fargo, North Dakota on a domestic tour, Russia, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia and will be in Panama for the next four years.  

Lucile Houellemont Jimenes is the president and founder of Alarma 24 and president of Dominican Watchman, both BASC-certified security companies. With over 25 years in security, she was the first in the Dominican Republic to become "Certified Protection Professional" (CPP) by ASIS International and leads the market's top security services operation with over 2,500 employees and 14 offices nationwide.  She has served as president of the Dominican Association of Security Companies (ADESINC) and on the National Social Security Council representing employers through COPARDOM. She also co-manages La Casa del Conductor, a public-private partnership supporting traffic accident issues.

Houellemont serves on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR) and as a director of the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP). She is on the Advisory Council of the National Competitiveness Council and the Gender Parity Initiative of the Dominican Republic.

Houellemont has received numerous accolades, including "Distinguished Alumna" by Carol Morgan School in 2018, ALTRAVAL award in 2014, and FEM 2019 award by the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs. She holds a degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a postgraduate degree in Management from Barna Business School, along with various courses and diplomas.

Michael K. Jackson currently serves as a Sr. International Trade Specialist at the Baltimore office of the U.S. Commercial Service - the export promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. 

Immediately prior to joining Commercial Service-Maryland, Mr. Jackson served as the Lead Business Development Officer in the Minority and Women-Owned Business (MWOB) Outreach Group at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), America’s official export credit agency. In that capacity he was responsible for export finance education, training, outreach, and partnerships with veteran, minority, and women-owned businesses, associations, and organizations. 

Prior to his role at EXIM, Mr. Jackson previously served as a Business Development Specialist & District International Trade Officer (DITO) with the Baltimore District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) where he focused on outreach to veteran-owned businesses as well as small businesses interested in doing business globally.  

Prior to beginning his career with the U.S. federal government, Mr. Jackson spent over a decade in the private sector and held sales and marketing positions with several Fortune 500 corporations in the banking and IT/telecom industry sectors. In addition to his government and past corporate experience, Mr. Jackson also has an extensive track record of entrepreneurship in health & wellness and professional speaking. 

Mr. Jackson earned an MBA in International Business from American Intercontinental University (Atlanta, GA) and a B.S. in Government & Politics with an International Relations concentration from the University of Maryland Global Campus (Heidelberg, Germany).  He also holds several professional certifications, including the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP). He is a husband, a proud father of four daughters and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Keith Eischeid is the Acting Director for the Latin America and Caribbean regional team at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and supervising USTDA’s activities in the region to support the development of priority infrastructure projects that create opportunities for U.S. exports. In addition to his regional responsibilities, he also co-leads USTDA’s worldwide ICT Sector Team. Mr. Eischeid began his career at USTDA in 2003 as a Presidential Management Fellow.

Mr. Eischeid has worked with the Latin America and Caribbean region since 1997 and is fluent in Spanish. Prior to joining USTDA, he worked in the agricultural affairs section of the Embassy of Chile in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Eischeid received a master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he served on the editorial board of The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, graduating with honors in Latin American Studies.

Sergio Retamal is President, and Founder of Global4PL, a supply chain software, and execution company that help companies reduce their cost and achieve their full operational potential. Sergio Retamal is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Global Supply Chain Leader Group.
   
Mr. Retamal possesses significant experience leading the planning and implementation of complex global supply chain networks, presenting and teaching his findings, and advancing the study and practice of supply chain management:

• Global4PL was listed as one of 22 Pros-To-Know by the 2007 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine.
• Awarded the 2005 Executive of the Year by the International Transportation Association.
• Global4PL was listed as one of 16 companies to watch by the 2006 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine.
• 2006 Winner of the TEN Award underwritten by the AT&T Foundation
• He has led global logistics for a number of Fortune 100 companies and his successes have been publicly recognized.
• He is a regular speaker in domestic and international forums.
• He has taught logistics and held board positions for the California State University system.
• Chairman for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals - San Francisco.
• Bay Area World Trade Center, Member of the Board of Directors - Oakland, California.

Sheila joined the U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo in 1997. Among the responsibilities that Ms. Diaz has in CS Santo Domingo, she serves as the Senior Commercial Specialist for the Dominican Republic, contributing to the design of the strategic planning for the office.

In her current capacity, Ms. Diaz is responsible for managing trade facilitation programs, intellectual property rights, free trade agreements and trade barrier issues. She also covers the following industry sectors: construction and engineering, environmental, infrastructures, defense, safety & security, textiles, food processing and packaging equipment, among others.

Ms. Diaz has been responsible for coordinating several trade missions (in-bound and outbound), including Secretarial Visits, Governors and State Secretaries of Commerce, amongst other high-ranking visitors. Ms. Sheila Diaz has received several Commercial Service Performance Awards (every year since 2001), Meritorious Honor Awards from the Department of State in 2001, 2013 and 2016,Bronze Medal Award for Superior Federal Service in 2007, and Star Award in 2024.

Prior to her work at CS Santo Domingo, she worked for Citibank Dominican Republic as Branch Assistant Manager, and for Verizon Dominicana as Human Resources Technical Assistant. She graduated with honors from Universidad APEC in 1991 with a BA degree in Business Administration and holds a Minor Degree in International Business from the Florida International University in 1992. Ms. Sheila is married to a Dominican Navy Admiral and has one daughter.

Since September 2021, Adam Shanks has been the director of the U.S. Commercial Service’s Rockford office, serving Northwest Illinois.

 Before his career at the U.S. Commercial Service, Adam worked for 16 years in international sales in the meteorological industry. 

• Between 2005 and 2018, he was the Sales Manager for Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico for Vaisala Inc.
• From 2013 to 2018, he managed Vaisala’s operations from Mexico City.
• In 2018, he moved to Dusseldorf, Germany, to work for Leonardo Germany as the Americas Regional Sales Manager.
• Adam received his degree in Economics from the University of California Irvine and an MBA in international business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
•      Adam also studied at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, where he lived for one year.

Founded in 2004, New Century International and affiliate companies known as New Century Companies have been engaged in Developing housing projects, Government design and construction contracts, Clean Energy, Franchising of Patent Pending Blok-On building system, real estate investments, water and sewer utility company, manufacturer of building products and distributors of home building materials. Currently New Century Companies are the largest developer of affordable housing in Central America. New Century built the first full robotic built block house in the USA in September 2024.

Alex De La Cruz started operations in 1994 and after selling original companies and investments in 2003 founded New Century International that runs and operates offices in USA, Canada, St Domingo, Guyana, Nicaragua and initiating operation in Panama. Alex has served of several boards in the community such as American Red Cross, Special Olympics, Children’s Survival Network, University of Miami, Americas Relief Team, Community Smiles and others. In addition, he has served on a Pro-bono basis as a civilian advisor for the department of defense (SOUTHCOM Div) and have received several awards as “Miracle Maker” from Big Brother and Big Sisters, Innovator of the year by Cemex, Excellence award by DOD SOUTHCOM and many more.