Jeanine’s 30-year career has centered on international economic development and international business development. With a focus on fostering middle market growth, she has designed and implemented state, regional, and metropolitan plans to improve export performance, enhance foreign investment, and deploy economic development resources toward data-based objectives for small and mid-sized firms. She is knowledgeable about North American, Latin American, and EU markets.
As Director of International Economic Development for Louisville Metro Government, Kentucky, USA, Jeanine headed strategic planning on exports and foreign direct investment, counseled companies on increasing export sales, and recruited European investment in the region. She led key stakeholders in Kentucky’s largest cities through multiple engagements with the Brookings Institution’s Global Cities Initiative. This international learning and research network of competitively selected cities worked to address metro economies' barriers to global competitiveness. The group´s findings helped inform the work of business, government and economic development professionals across the country and internationally.
Prior, as trade specialist for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Jeanine assisted SMEs to export to Mexico and South American markets. She developed and launched the Governor’s Kentucky Export Initiative, which has remained the cornerstone of Kentucky’s state level international trade assistance under four governors’ administrations.
Early in her career, Jeanine developed and delivered customized workforce education for dozens of companies in Kentucky and Guatemala. Jeanine holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and a bachelor’s in English literature and Spanish language from Mount Holyoke College. She is a certified judicial interpreter (Spanish/English). She is currently based in Spain.