Sean Connell, MA ’06

Sean Connell is a public policy professional with two decades of experience bridging the international, federal, state and local levels, with focus on international trade and economic development. Mr. Connell is currently a U.S. Congressional staff member. From 2003 through 2011, Mr. Connell worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he served as Director for Japan and Korea, and concurrently as Executive Director of the U.S.-Korea Business Council. In these positions, he spearheaded the U.S. Chamber’s policy initiatives on Japan and Korea, and played key coordinating roles in the U.S. business community’s efforts to secure the successful negotiation and approval of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Connell was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Japan and visiting scholar at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry in Tokyo. In 2013 he was a POSCO Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center, and Japan Studies Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington. Mr. Connell has also worked for the Washington State House of Representatives and Mie Prefectural Government in Japan, in addition to economic development organizations and for an early-stage energy technology business.

Mr. Connell holds a B.A. with High Honors from Wesleyan University and an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University. He serves on the executive board of the Mount Baker Council, Scouting America; on the national advisory committees of the Japan-America Student Conference and Korea-America Student Conference; and as a senior fellow of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.