Terri Batch

Prior to joining Global LA, Ms. Batch spent two decades with the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Her most recent position was the Director of the Global Diversity Export Initiative (GDEI) of the U.S. Commercial Service, the export promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA).  Ms. Batch was the inaugural leader of the GDEI program which promotes export opportunities to historically underserved communities including minority-owned, women-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, veteran-owned, and disabled-owned businesses.  In this role, Ms. Batch championed a GDEI trade mission to the African continent and provided expertise and guidance to trade missions, trade events, and programs that expanded the depth and breadth of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s outreach.

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Ms. Batch served in many capacities at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She led the Global Design & Construction Team and served as the inaugural Team Leader for the Global China Team.  She also founded B-BOLD (Blacks Building Opportunities to Leverage Diversity), an employee resource group within ITA that focused on creating a more diverse and inclusive organization and prioritizing outreach to minority-and-women-owned businesses.  Terri also served as an Export Advisor to the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce and as the co-lead for the International Affairs Cluster for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

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Ms. Batch has been recognized with Bronze and Silver Medal Awards for her leadership within the U.S. Department of Commerce and was recently awarded the William E. Morton Memorial award for being a trailblazer within ITA for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

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Ms. Batch earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Spelman College and a Master of Public Administration from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Ms. Batch speaks Mandarin Chinese and trained at institutes in Beijing, China and Taipei, Taiwan. She has guided U.S. businesses throughout China and the Asia Region, Brazil, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria.  Terri has a professional designation as a Global Logistics Specialist from California State University Long Beach and is a Certified Global Business Professional from the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE).