Washington: US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to appoint Indian-American business leader Shamina Singh to the President’s Export Council that serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade.

Singh is the founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and serves as the executive vice president of Sustainability at the company. “I am deeply honored to join the group of esteemed leaders that make up the President’s Export Council. From the earliest days of my career, I’ve gravitated toward work that helps create long-lasting and inclusive prosperity for people and economies in the US and around the world,” Singh said in a statement in July.

“I look forward to bringing this perspective to the Council, serving the Administration and having an opportunity to advance America’s economic interests across the globe.” She has drawn on over 20 years of global experience to develop a unique social impact model that leverages the assets of the public and private sector.

Her leadership has contributed to Mastercard’s global leadership and reputation of doing well by doing good, a White House statement read. In 2018, Mastercard created the Mastercard Impact Fund with an initial $500 million investment.

Singh was named President and charged with activating those philanthropic dollars to advance inclusive growth and financial inclusion around the world. Deeply committed to public service, Singh has held senior positions in the White House and the US House of Representatives.

She was the Executive Director of the first President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and in 2015, she was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to a six-year term on the board of AmeriCorps.

She also serves on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. She has been named to the Financial Times Top 100 LGBT+ Executives and Fast Company‘s Queer 50 lists.

Singh has studied at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the Indian School of Business. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

The President’s Export Council serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The Council advises the President on government policies and programs that affect US trade performance; promotes export expansion; and provides a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial, agricultural, labour, and government sectors.