President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration:
Lynda Blanchard of Alabama, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia.
Ms. Blanchard co-founded 100X Development Foundation in 2004, an organization dedicated to fostering creative solutions to eradicate poverty and improve the lives of children around the world. Concurrently, she co-founded and is currently senior advisor at B & M Management Company, a real estate investment management company. Ms. Blanchard has worked in Africa, Asia, and South America, engaging with local partners to further 100X Development Foundation’s mission. As an advocate for people with special needs for more than 20 years, Ms. Blanchard has voluntarily served on boards of non-profit organizations and supported numerous education programs in Alabama, as well as helped families who are interested in adoption. She is the mother of seven children, four of which were adopted internationally. Ms. Blanchard earned a B.S. in mathematics and a minor in computer science from Auburn University.
Robert A. Destro of Virginia, to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Mr. Destro is a human rights advocate and a civil rights attorney with expertise in elections and employment law. He is also professor of law and director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America. Mr. Destro has been on the faculty at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law since 1982 and served as its Interim Dean from 1999 to 2001. He served a six-year term as Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Mr. Destro’s legal work includes collaboration with the Peace Research Institute Oslo in a fifteen-year dialogue among Muslim, Christian, and Jewish legal, business, and religious leaders in the United States and the Middle East and efforts promoting the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the Middle East. He has also served as voting rights counsel for the Ohio Secretary of State and advocated for the First Amendment rights of individuals and organizations. He earned a B.A. from Miami University, Ohio, and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is an active member of the Bar in Ohio and California.
Rick A. Dearborn of Oklahoma, to be a Member of the Amtrak Board of Directors for a term of five years.
Mr. Dearborn served as Deputy Chief of Staff for President Donald J. Trump from January 2017 to March 2018, and was the executive director of the Presidential transition team following President Trump’s election. Mr. Dearborn served as the Chief of Staff for Senator Jeff Sessions from 2005 to 2017, as the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional Affairs from 2003 to 2005, and as the legislative director for then Senator Sessions beginning in 1997. Mr. Dearborn graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1988. He and his wife, Gina, split their time between homes in Alexandria, Virginia and Birmingham, Alabama.
Mark Montgomery of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.
Mr. Montgomery serves as the policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee. He completed a thirty two-year career as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, retiring as a Rear Admiral in 2017. His flag officer assignments included deputy director of plans, policy and strategy, U.S. European Command; commander of Carrier Strike Group 5 embarked on the USS George Washington stationed in Japan; and director of operations at United States Pacific Command. Rear Admiral Montgomery’s other seagoing assignments included serving as the first commanding officer of the destroyer USS McCampbell, a reactor officer on the USS Nimitz, and as commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15 stationed in Japan. Ashore, he was selected as a White House Fellow and was assigned to the National Security Council, serving as Director for Transnational Threats from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Montgomery graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 with a B.A. and an M.A. in history. He subsequently earned an M.A. in history from Oxford University.
Kimberly A. Reed of West Virginia, to be President of the Export-Import Bank for a term of four years expiring January, 20, 2021.
Ms. Reed was president of the International Food Information Council Foundation where she collaborated with the United States Department of Agriculture and Department of State to increase acceptance of United States exports in emerging markets. At the United States Department of the Treasury, Ms. Reed headed the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, where she oversaw the award of four billion in tax credits, loans, and grants to financial institutions and economic development groups investing in distressed communities across the Nation. She also served as senior advisor to Secretaries John Snow and Henry Paulson. As counsel to three committees in the United States House of Representatives — the Ways and Means, Government Reform and Oversight, and Education and the Workforce Committees — Ms. Reed focused on oversight and reform of federal agencies. She was vice president for financial markets policy relations at Lehman Brothers. Ms. Reed was the first woman elected as chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association in 2016, and was named one of the “100 Women Leaders in STEM.” She currently serves on the boards of the Alzheimer’s Association and American Swiss Foundation. She earned a B.S. from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law.
