Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa

Heather Lanigan is the Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), where she is responsible for developing the agency’s strategies, assistance activities, and innovative partnerships throughout the region. In addition to her regional responsibilities, she also leads USTDA’s Global Telecommunications Sector Team.

In her tenure at USTDA, Ms. Lanigan previously served as the Country Manager for the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Eurasia, and for South Asia, and was responsible for implementing project preparation activities that catalyzed energy, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure projects in over 20 countries. Ms. Lanigan also served as the Economic Transition Coordinator for the U.S. Department of State’s policy and programming assistance in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia.

Ms. Lanigan holds a Master of Arts degree in Global Finance Trade and Economic Integration from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Spanish from St. Lawrence University.