Event Calendar

Start Date: 6/9/2026 4:00 PM EDT
End Date: 6/9/2026 5:00 PM EDT

Venue Name: In Person - Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)

Location:

Organization Name: WIIT

Contact:

Commercial diplomacy is at the center of a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy—from aid to trade—by leveraging the private sector to drive economic growth, deepen partnerships, and deliver tangible results for American and partner economies alike. It focuses on unlocking market opportunities, advancing commercially viable deals, and strengthening the business environments that enable long-term, mutually beneficial trade and investment.
 
In May 2025, the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs launched its Commercial Diplomacy Strategy to operationalize this approach—prioritizing dealmaking, advancing market reforms, mobilizing U.S. government tools in support of strategic projects, and integrating the private sector into diplomatic engagement.
 
Join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Center and the Women in International Trade on June 9 for a discussion on the first year of implementation of this strategy, highlighting lessons learned and the path forward for strengthening U.S.–Africa commercial ties. Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Sarah Troutman will be joined by Senior Commercial Officer Ashley Bubna, the architect of the strategy, to outline how the State Department is advancing commercial diplomacy in practice and how these efforts fit within broader U.S. economic engagement. They will also be joined by Kendra Gaither, President of the U.S.-Africa Business Center, as well as a senior representative of the African diplomatic corps, who will share how this approach is expanding opportunities and reshaping U.S.–Africa economic partnerships.

Speakers:

Sarah Troutman, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, State Department
Sarah Troutman serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs, coordinating the Administration’s policy priorities in the central African countries of Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. She also drives initiatives to expand U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa and creates opportunities for U.S. companies and investors by leading efforts in the commercial and economic affairs portfolio across the region.

She comes directly from serving as a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of African Affairs. Previously, she was the Director of Government Relations at The ONE Campaign where she advanced self-sustaining economic growth in African countries. She served on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee staff for five years under Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), most recently as a Professional Staff Member covering portfolios including oversight of global health programming, U.S. participation in the United Nations and international organizations, and certain economic development efforts. She also previously worked as a Program Advisor at the DC-based nonprofit The Fund for American Studies.

She received a B.A. in History and French from Grove City College in Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an M.A. in Violence, Terrorism and Security from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Kendra Gaither, President, U.S.-Africa Business Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Kendra L. Gaither is President of the U.S.-Africa Business Center. She joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2015, bringing a wealth of solutions-oriented global public policy expertise to this role. In addition to providing policy analysis and advocacy support to the private sector regarding trade policy issues across East and Southern Africa, she serves as the Executive Director for the U.S.-South Africa Business Council. Gaither also directs the Chamber’s Coalition for the Rule of Law in Global Markets, which publishes a Global Business Rule of Law Dashboard to bring more attention to the issue from the private sector perspective. She joined the Chamber from Carnegie Mellon University, where she was a global initiatives adviser in the College of Engineering and Executive Director of the Center for International Policy and Innovation. During her tenure at the university, she supported the establishment of the Carnegie Mellon University graduate campus in Kigali. 

An alumna of the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, Gaither began her career in international affairs at the U.S. Department of State. There she spent more than 10 years as a career diplomat and civil servant specializing in international economic and trade issues in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Her overseas Foreign Service assignments include postings at the U.S. embassies in Peru and Mexico. Domestically, she held positions in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, including as an economic officer on the South Africa Desk, a coordinator for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum and as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary.  

Gaither holds a B.S. in economics from North Carolina A&T State University, as well as an M.A. in international affairs and an M.B.A. in international business finance from The George Washington University. She is a member of the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT) and a career mentor and volunteer with The Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Ashley Bubna, Senior Commercial Officer, Bureau of African Affairs, State Department
Ashley Bubna is the Senior Commercial Officer for the Bureau of African Affairs, leading the bureau’s commercial diplomacy efforts to advance U.S. trade and investment with Africa. She also oversees the bureau’s Commercial Unit and covers energy and transportation, alongside United States infrastructure initiatives the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and the U.S.-African Union Commission Strategic Infrastructure and Investment Working Group.  
 
Ashley spent the previous six years as a Senior International Trade Specialist (Desk Officer) in the Office of Africa at the U.S. Department of Commerce where she covered the Horn of Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa at various stages and served as the Designated Federal Officer for the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa.
 
Ashley holds a M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a concentration in U.S. Foreign Policy from the School of International Service at American University. She holds?a B.A. in Mass Communications from Louisiana State University.

Registration closes Friday, June 5, at 12 Noon.

This event is off the record.