Randy Mitchell joined the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2001, from the private sector where he had a history of entrepreneurial development in Russia, Japan, and the United States. From 1997-2001 he was founder of a start-up e-commerce company exporting U.S. consumer goods to the Japanese. In that position he built a management team that included former Fortune 500 executives including the former Chairman, CEO and President of Avon Japan. Along with his team he raised $3.5 million in angel and venture capital financing and built strategic partnerships with some of the largest companies in Japan and the United States. Mr. Mitchell resided in Russia from 1992 through 1996, where he built distribution networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg for U.S. and Scandinavian food and beverage brands such as Nestle (Findus), Sara Lee, Anheuser-Busch, Tyson, Subway, Campbell Soup, and others. This included working with Russian entrepreneurs in distribution, retail, and food service. Mr. Mitchell is currently the U.S. government official responsible for venture capital and is the United States Representative to the OECD for Entrepreneurship where he actively works to promote global entrepreneurship. He is an alumnus of the Venture Capital Institute and has represented the International Trade Administration on the Board of Advisors to the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). Mr. Mitchell has also served as organizer and U.S. Secretary on bilateral venture capital working groups with the governments of Australia, Brazil, and the European Union. Mr. Mitchell, a speaker of Russian, has traveled to 38 countries. At the International Trade Administration, Mr. Mitchell is responsible for enhancing the competitiveness of the U.S. venture capital sector.