To view the event video, click HERE.
Featuring
Lance M. Fritz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Union Pacific
Jacqueline Faseler, Dow Chemical
Caroline Freund, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Neena Shenai, Medtronic
Duncan Wood, Wilson Center
Moderator: Nicole Bivens Collinson, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
Nicole Bivens Collinson leads the International Trade and Government relations practice of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., and serves as managing principal of the Washington, D.C., office. She is also a member of the Firm’s Operating Committee. Ms. Collinson has over 25 years of experience in government, public affairs and lobbying. She has drafted and guided the successful implementation of several pieces of key international trade legislation positively affecting the bottom line of many U.S. companies. Clients have saved millions of dollars through the successful drafting, guidance and passage of legislation that reduces or eliminates duties — crafting creative measures to benefit clients such as blocking changes to the First Sale doctrine, Miscellaneous Tariff Bills, specific trade preference legislation, the Generalized System of Preferences, etc. Such a track record demonstrates her ability to effectively move your agenda forward. Ms. Collinson prepares countries, companies and associations for negotiations with the United States on free trade agreements, trade and investment agreements, labor disputes or other preferential programs. She is well-known for her ability to foster dialogue among a diverse set of stakeholders to resolve complex issues in trade policy making and implementation. She also works directly with U.S. multinational corporations and associations, as well as foreign companies, associations and government agencies, to clearly represent their positions in Washington. In doing so she analyzes and monitors cross-cutting trade issues, including labor, the environment, food safety, customs regulations, international development and others, and helps build strong coalitions to advocate for change. Further, her work representing clients before Congress has earned her a well-respected position among politicians involved in international and business affairs. She is a well-known international trade authority in Washington, regularly called upon by members of Congress and the administration to help explain complex trade programs. Her decades of work with the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees and the Senate Finance; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Foreign Relations; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees has established deep and lasting relations with members of Congress and their staffs. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Collinson served as assistant chief negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, responsible for the negotiation of bilateral agreements with Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, the Sub-Continent and Africa. She also served as a country specialist in the International Trade Administration at the Department of Commerce, where she was responsible for the preparation of negotiations on specific topics between the U.S. and Latin America, Eastern Europe, China and Hong Kong, as well as the administration of complex textile agreements.
Jacqueline Faseler is the Global Director for Supply Chain Sustainability and Compliance at Dow Chemical. In her role, she is creating and implementing a comprehensive Supply Chain sustainability strategy, while ensuring continued Supply Chain Environmental Health & Safety excellence and Trade and Regulatory compliance. Jacqueline has a passion for driving sustainability and with Dow’s recent launch of the 2025 Sustainability goals, she is using her experience to create and lead innovative plans and programs to successfully deliver on this exciting initiative. Jacqueline joined The Dow Chemical Company in 1995 and has held numerous roles in Manufacturing and Supply Chain such as Production Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt, Global Planner, Business Supply Chain Leader and Supply Chain Technology & Expertise Center Director. Jacqueline graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Caroline Freund has been a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since May 2013. Prior to that she was chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank, after working for nearly a decade in the international trade unit of the research department at the World Bank. She has also worked in the research departments of the International Monetary Fund and the international finance division of the Federal Reserve Board. Freund’s research examines international trade, trade policy, and economic growth. She is the author of Rich People Poor Countries: The Rise of Emerging Market Tycoons and their Mega Firms. She has published many articles on the effects of regional trade agreements and edited a volume on The WTO and Reciprocal Preferential Trading Agreements. Her work has appeared in academic journals, including: American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics. Freund was a member of the EXIM Bank advisory committee from 2014 to 2016. She is on the scientific committees of CEPII (Institute for Research of the International Economy, Paris) and the Economic Research Forum (Cairo), is a member of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, and on the editorial board of the journal Economics and Politics. She received a PhD in economics from Columbia University.
Lance M. Fritz is Union Pacific Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He became Chairman of the board effective October 1, 2015. Fritz became President and Chief Executive Officer February 5, 2015, when he also was elected to the corporation’s board of directors. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Union Pacific Railroad, a position he had held since February 2014, after serving as executive vice president-Operations and vice president-Labor Relations, respectively. He began his Union Pacific career in July 2000 as vice president and general manager-Energy in the company’s Marketing and Sales department. Before joining Union Pacific, Fritz worked for Fiskars Inc., Cooper Industries and General Electric. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and earned a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Fritz serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Association of American Railroads. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a member of the STRATCOM Consultation Committee and a member of the Georgia Institute of Technology President’s Advisory Board. Fritz is deeply involved with organizations in his local community. He serves on the Board of Directors for Nebraska Medicine, Omaha Symphony and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. Fritz and his wife, Julie, have two children and are committed to helping women and children at risk in the Omaha community.
Neena Shenai is principal global trade counsel at Medtronic. She formerly served as trade counsel for the Committee on Ways and Means in the US House of Representatives where she advised on global market access, services, investment, and sanctions issues. Shenai was involved in the passage of the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority package as well as 2011 legislation implementing the US-Panama free trade agreement and reauthorizing trade adjustment assistance. Previously, Shenai served as banking, commerce, transportation, and trade counsel for the US Senate Republican Policy Committee and senior adviser in the Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce. She was an attorney in the international trade group of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, a professional trainee in the Rules Division of the World Trade Organization, and a judicial law clerk with the Hon. Evan J. Wallach of the US Court of International Trade. Shenai has a JD from Vanderbilt University; an MPhil in international relations from St. Antony’s College, Oxford University; and a BA with high honors from Swarthmore College.
Duncan Wood is the Director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. His research focuses on Mexican politics, security and trade, and North American relations. He regularly gives testimony to the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Mexico relations, is a widely quoted source on Mexican energy politics and has published widely on this and other issues. He is the author or editor of 10 books and more than 30 chapters and articles. He is currently a regular participant in the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Energy, an editorial advisor to El Universal newspaper, and is a member of the editorial board of Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica. From 1996-2012 he was a professor and the director of the International Relations Program at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico City for 17 years. In 2007, he was a non-resident Fulbright Fellow and, between 2007 and 2009, he was technical secretary of the Red Mexicana de Energia, a group of experts in the area of energy policy in Mexico. He has been a member of the Mexican National Research System, an editorial advisor to both Reforma, a Senior Associate with the Simon Chair and the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. He studied in the UK and Canada, receiving his PhD in political studies from Queen’s University, Canada, and is a recipient of the Canadian Governor General’s Visit Award for contributions to the Mexico-Canada relationship.