Speaker

Josh Halpern is the Founding Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s eCommerce Innovation Lab, based in Silicon Valley, California. Mr. Halpern’s role includes leveraging private sector solutions and the International Trade Administration’s global reach to exponentially increase U.S. exports of goods and services through eCommerce channels. One of his signature initiatives is the public/private partnership called Getting to Global, which can be found on the partner site: www.gettingtoglobal.com. From 2011 through 2015, Joshua Halpern led the eCommerce, Retail, Franchise and Logistics portfolios for the U.S. Embassy in China, where he provided market-entry consulting for U.S. companies entering China. He speaks regularly at industry conferences across the U.S. and China and has won U.S. State Department and Department of Commerce awards for his innovation in management and public-private eCommerce solutions. He has led start-up teams for multiple companies throughout the world, including his own companies, IdiomArts Education, S.L. in Spain and Onthego Education, Inc. in the U.S./China and an education investment firm in India. He is the creator of www.CultureAgents.com, an interactive education program promoting cross-cultural understanding among youth through content-driven print and mobile interaction. Mr. Halpern is a commissioned and tenured Foreign Service Officer, holds a B.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, an MBA from INSEAD and an EMBA from Tsinghua University, where he served as class-president. He currently holds U.S. Government Top-Secret Clearance.