Kati Suominen
Dr. Kati Suominen is the Founder and CEO of Nextrade Group that helps governments, multilateral development banks, think-tanks, and leading technology companies enable trade through technology. Dr. Suominen has ideated and built dozens of data and analytical products and pilot initiatives, including on digital trade and AI, as well as eight global initiatives and public-private-partnerships to enable ecommerce development – including, most recently, the Alliance for eTrade Development between 16 leading companies and USAID to enable SME ecommerce in developing nations, and Prosper Africa Tech for Trade Alliance with 24 companies and U.S. government's Prosper Africa initiative. She also serves as Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Adjunct Professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Earlier in her career, she served as Trade Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank.
Dr. Suominen is the author and editor of over 120 papers and 10 peer-reviewed books on trade, globalization and technology with leading academic presses, most recently Revolutionizing World Trade: How Disruptive Technologies Open Opportunities for All (Stanford University Press, 2019).
Dr. Suominen received her PhD from University of California, San Diego, and her MBA from Wharton School of Business. She also holds an MA from Boston University and a BA from University of Arkansas Little Rock.
