Paul J. Thanos is the Director for Finance and Insurance Industries at the US Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. Mr. Thanos is responsible for developing and executing policy, analysis, and promotion initiatives pertaining to finance and insurance industries; trade and project finance; environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing; and access to finance. Mr. Thanos is an interagency leader on digital assets and enterprise blockchain technology applications, including leading the Commerce Department’s work on responsible development of digital assets. Mr. Thanos has recently begun a new initiative on the future of work and competitiveness which includes examining issues such as talent pipelines, portable benefits, and hybrid work. He leads the US delegation to the OECD Insurance and Private Pensions Committee and supervises the commercial pillar of the US-UK Financial Innovation Partnership. He is a regular guest lecturer on topics ranging from trade, competitiveness, corporate strategy, and risk management. Mr. Thanos served as the inaugural Global Trade and Investment Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars from 2016 to 2017 where he published a series of articles on inclusive capitalism, services trade, and US-Canada bilateral economics in the Great Lakes region. He also served as a Brookings Institute fellow in the United States Senate with responsibility for trade, foreign policy, and defense issues.