Speaker Bio

Margaret Hanson-Muse
Senior Commercial Officer
U.S. Embassy
Singapore

Maggie Hanson-Muse is a second generation Senior Foreign Service officer who has served in Mexico, Cote d’Ivoire, New Delhi, Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Maggie held positions of increasing responsibility at Allstate Insurance, General Electric and Sprint.

Maggie began her career at the U.S. Trade Center in Mexico and subsequently joined the Commercial Service in Cote d’Ivoire where, as Commercial Attachée, she supported the bilateral program and the African Development Bank and West Africa regional programs. Assigned to New Delhi, she managed operations, market research and the U.S. Asian-Environmental Partnership program as Deputy Senior Commercial Officer.

As Senior Commercial Officer in Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia, in addition to trade promotion work, Maggie worked with the Market Access and Compliance team, the Office of the General Counsel and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on three free trade agreements (FTAs). Directly, or as part of a team, Maggie successfully resolved 30 Commercial Diplomacy cases, a precondition to concluding the FTAs. In Peru and Colombia, she extended the reach of CS programs to second tier cities working with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), municipalities and universities to implement business integrity programs or to establish AmCham branch offices. In Peru and Colombia, she pinpointed shortcomings of the arbitration legal framework that led to changes in the investment chapter of the pending FTAs and the development of the “Arbitration Guide for U.S. Exporters in Colombia”. She also worked on IPR initiatives and produced the “Ambassador’s IPR Toolkit” for both countries. Maggie frequently appeared on Spanish-language TV, live radio broadcasts or in the print media promoting CS programs or discussing the benefits of free trade, governance or diversity issues.

In 2011, Maggie returned as Deputy Senior Commercial Officer in New Delhi. She provides program management and operations support for 70 people in seven locations representing four agencies. She directly supervises the market access and compliance portfolio, market research, and services delivery. She oversees multiple budgets, manages human resources issues and handles physical plant concerns such as IT, construction and leasing projects that often require extensive interagency coordination. In India, Maggie has replicated successful trade promotion activities that advance market access and compliance priorities. Her programs have led to new partnerships with new multipliers in the area of standards, FCPA, good governance and diversity. She actively incorporates social media into all CS programs to expand their reach.

Maggie graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. cum laude in Spanish and Latin American Studies and earned a MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Columbia University (NY) Graduate School of Business. She is fluent in Spanish and French and has two adult daughters.