Listening for America
Motivated by the "disconnect between policy makers in Washington and everyone else," Catherine Novelli, a former trade negotiator and State Department official, set off on a nationwide listening tour in an effort to understand how individuals and small businesses experience trade and how it affects their communities. Novelli and the Listening for America team spoke to over 1,000 Americans across the country about their experiences with international trade and globalization. She joins us to discuss the results of these conversations, captured in a new report that provides recommendations on a policy framework that will tangibly benefit Americans.
Event to be held virtually on Zoom.
Related materials:
Listening for America Report, "Connecting People with International Trade," October 2021
Trade Matters with Catherine Novelli, Ep 23: Listening to Americans on Trade Policy, December 2020
Report, "U.S. Foreign Policy for the Middle Class: Perspectives from Nebraska," May 2020
Catherine Novelli
Catherine A. Novelli is the President of Listening for America, a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the design of international trade policy. She has worked in the field of international trade policy for over 30 years and has served every President from Ronald Reagan to Barak Obama. Most recently, she was Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, reporting directly to the Secretary of State. Prior to assuming her duties as Under Secretary of State, she spent seven years as Vice President, Worldwide Government Affairs at Apple Inc. In that role, Ms. Novelli headed a multinational international team responsible for Apple’s federal, international, and state and local government relations and public policy.
Formerly Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe & the Mediterranean, Ms. Novelli coordinated U.S. trade and investment policy for the over 65 countries of Western Europe, Central Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa. She has taken a leading role in many of the most important U.S. trade negotiations in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa, including serving as lead negotiator for the United States Free Trade Agreements with Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman.
Ms. Novelli is a graduate of Tufts University, holds a law degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Laws from University of London (with concentrations in international and comparative law at the London School of Economics and School of Oriental and Asian Studies).
Jill O'Donnell
O’Donnell is the Haggart-Work Director of the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance and a professor of practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is also the creator and host of "Trade Matters," a podcast of the Yeutter Institute. Jill leads the effort to build and grow the Yeutter Institute across its mission areas of education, research, and public engagement. Her prior experience in the international relations and U.S. foreign policy arena spans Capitol Hill, international organizations, research entities, and the private sector. She is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).