Full Name
Lea-Ann Bigelow
Professional Title
Director, Green Trade
Company
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Speaker Biography
Lea-Ann (Lea) Bigelow is a versatile and solutions-driven operations expert with a unique track record of innovation, strategy and policy development and execution, coalition building and results delivery across the Federal, private and non-profit sectors. Ms. Bigelow’s 20 years of public sector leadership crosses the Executive Office of the President, two Cabinet Departments (Homeland Security and Commerce); and two independent Federal agencies (Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Gallery of Art.)
Ms. Bigelow was appointed CBP’s Director, Green Trade, Trade Policy & Programs in October 2022. Ms. Bigelow serves as CBP’s primary champion for execution of its Green Trade Strategy, which was launched in June 2022 as an agency-wide initiative to guide and inspire CBP’s enterprise-wide actions in the global fight against climate change and environmental degradation in the context of the trade mission. More specifically, Ms. Bigelow leads CBP efforts to develop new green technologies, innovation and research, drive environmental trade enforcement and climate policy engagement with Partner Government Agencies and international customs entities, and engage with strategic partners from industry, academia and NGOs to explore green trade incentives and best practices. Immediately prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Bigelow served as Director of International Engagement at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), leading global programs focused on government sustainability and climate, including the Greening Government Initiative, a first-of-its-kind community of practice with 48 participating countries working to build climate resilience in the public sector.
From 2018 to 2021, as CBP’s Director, Interagency Collaboration Ms. Bigelow fostered and drove CBP’s partnerships with over 50 U.S. federal agencies, and global public and private sector entities with equities in cross-border trade towards optimization in 1) trade policy, 2) trade-facilitating technology, and 3) trade security and enforcement. In that role, she oversaw the Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC), the decision-making body charged with enhancing coordination across federal agencies with border responsibilities to measurably improve supply chain processes and the identification of illicit and high-risk shipments, and led design of the Global Business Identifier (GBI), a pilot program that will test the concept of a single business identifier solution to improve the U.S. Government's and industry's visibility into complex supply chains and facilitate legitimate trade. Ms. Bigelow was also the policy lead for CBP’s Import Safety and Agriculture Priority Trade Issues, and directed ongoing interagency technology enhancements to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), otherwise known as the U.S. “Single Window,” the data exchange and warehouse through which all commodity imports to and exports from the U.S. are processed. ACE is the system of record by which electronic trade and related financial transactions relating to cross-border goods flows are conducted and recorded by CBP.
Ms. Bigelow’s previous U.S. Federal government service also includes: Deputy Director, Performance Strategy & Systems, U.S. Department of Commerce; Director, Performance & Risk Management for the First Responders Network Authority (FirstNet); and Associate Director of Enforcement Operations, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Her government service began in 2004 when she joined the Treasurer’s Office of the National Gallery of Art, where she served for six years as the Gallery’s Director of Budget and Planning.
Before entering public service, Ms. Bigelow operated for several years as an investment banker and strategy consultant, specializing in international M&A, venture capital and project finance. She holds a B.Sc., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
In 2016, Ms. Bigelow was awarded the Commerce Gold Medal, the highest form of honorary recognition the Department of Commerce bestows, for distinguished contributions to Organizational Development. Ms. Bigelow and her team were also recently recognized with the 2022 DHS Secretary’s Award for Innovation for their work in trade-facing Robotic Process Automation. She lives with her husband and daughter in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
Ms. Bigelow was appointed CBP’s Director, Green Trade, Trade Policy & Programs in October 2022. Ms. Bigelow serves as CBP’s primary champion for execution of its Green Trade Strategy, which was launched in June 2022 as an agency-wide initiative to guide and inspire CBP’s enterprise-wide actions in the global fight against climate change and environmental degradation in the context of the trade mission. More specifically, Ms. Bigelow leads CBP efforts to develop new green technologies, innovation and research, drive environmental trade enforcement and climate policy engagement with Partner Government Agencies and international customs entities, and engage with strategic partners from industry, academia and NGOs to explore green trade incentives and best practices. Immediately prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Bigelow served as Director of International Engagement at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), leading global programs focused on government sustainability and climate, including the Greening Government Initiative, a first-of-its-kind community of practice with 48 participating countries working to build climate resilience in the public sector.
From 2018 to 2021, as CBP’s Director, Interagency Collaboration Ms. Bigelow fostered and drove CBP’s partnerships with over 50 U.S. federal agencies, and global public and private sector entities with equities in cross-border trade towards optimization in 1) trade policy, 2) trade-facilitating technology, and 3) trade security and enforcement. In that role, she oversaw the Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC), the decision-making body charged with enhancing coordination across federal agencies with border responsibilities to measurably improve supply chain processes and the identification of illicit and high-risk shipments, and led design of the Global Business Identifier (GBI), a pilot program that will test the concept of a single business identifier solution to improve the U.S. Government's and industry's visibility into complex supply chains and facilitate legitimate trade. Ms. Bigelow was also the policy lead for CBP’s Import Safety and Agriculture Priority Trade Issues, and directed ongoing interagency technology enhancements to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), otherwise known as the U.S. “Single Window,” the data exchange and warehouse through which all commodity imports to and exports from the U.S. are processed. ACE is the system of record by which electronic trade and related financial transactions relating to cross-border goods flows are conducted and recorded by CBP.
Ms. Bigelow’s previous U.S. Federal government service also includes: Deputy Director, Performance Strategy & Systems, U.S. Department of Commerce; Director, Performance & Risk Management for the First Responders Network Authority (FirstNet); and Associate Director of Enforcement Operations, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Her government service began in 2004 when she joined the Treasurer’s Office of the National Gallery of Art, where she served for six years as the Gallery’s Director of Budget and Planning.
Before entering public service, Ms. Bigelow operated for several years as an investment banker and strategy consultant, specializing in international M&A, venture capital and project finance. She holds a B.Sc., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
In 2016, Ms. Bigelow was awarded the Commerce Gold Medal, the highest form of honorary recognition the Department of Commerce bestows, for distinguished contributions to Organizational Development. Ms. Bigelow and her team were also recently recognized with the 2022 DHS Secretary’s Award for Innovation for their work in trade-facing Robotic Process Automation. She lives with her husband and daughter in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
Speaking At
