Rebecca's Bio

Having lived on four different continents and in eight countries, Rebecca Armand can maneuver through cultural protocols and trade barriers to build successful business relationships.  

She directed U.S. Department of Commerce operations in U.S. Embassies around the world, leading teams of American and host country staff to promote U.S. exports, advocate for American companies, and develop company-specific and industry-specific programs and linkages. While working in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Peru, the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries; and while covering West Africa from Nigeria, and East Africa from Kenya, Rebecca  developed a wealth of private sector and government contacts and colleagues across the globe.

Rebecca also has substantial experience creating and leading large, complex projects, negotations and promotions. While posted in Nigeria, Rebecca designed and launched the opening campaign for the U.S. Government’s “Doing Business in Africa”initiative in 2012.  Shortly thereafter, she coordinated and implemented a “Discover Global Markets: Africa”conference to fulfill White House-focused Africa initiatives.  While in Brazil, Rebecca developed the first-ever bilateral CEO Forum for the United States in Latin America and the first bilateral Commercial Dialogue. This effort resulted in policy changes that extended U.S. and Brazilian visas to ten years, greater regulatory harmonization and lowered trade barriers.

Earlier in her U.S. Department of Commerce career, Rebecca held progressively responsible leadership positions, including international trade and economic analysis, promoting inbound U.S. investment, senior advisor for human resources/talent development,  policy and trade promotion in Africa, South America, the Caribbean and Washington DC from 1993-2006.

Her most recent endeavor was as the Senior Director for Business Development at xG Technology, and up and coming tech firm that specializes in cutting edge cognitive radio research, wireless technology for the broadcast sector, and satellite communications.  Rebecca identified and negotiated with strategic partners, created and implemented an export control policy across multiple divisions in the U.S. and overseas.  In addition to strategic business analysis, forecasting and international proposal preparation, she wrote, edited, compliance-checked and submitted federal/DoD/DARPA proposals. Rebecca holds a Top Secret security clearance. 

Rebecca holds a Master of Arts in Applied Economics from the University of Central Florida and Bachelor of Science Business Administration in Finance from the University of Florida.  She is married to Fred Armand, a Senior Foreign Service Officer and accomplished musician, and they have two amazing children.