ILF Founder Named Chief of Staff
Founder of the International
Leadership Foundation, Joel Szabat, has been
appointed to another position in the spotlight. He will soon serve as the chief
of staff for the U.S. Small Business Administration by SBA Administrator Steven
C. Preston.
In his role as chief of staff, Szabat
will serve as one of the primary advisors to the administrator and the agency's
senior managers.
"Joel brings strong
hands-on management experience to our team, which will be critical in
partnering with me to address many of the operational opportunities and
challenges we face at the SBA," said SBA Administrator Steven C.
Preston. "We will build upon the many valuable programs at the SBA by
emphasizing the importance of a customer-centric culture, operational
responsiveness, and sophisticated financial management."
Before joining SBA, Szabat served the Department of Transportation. He led
department-wide initiatives such as the President's Management Agenda, Pandemic
Flu planning, Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned, and interagency research coordination.
In 2005, Szabat served the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, as the transportation counselor to the ambassador and
directed the U.S. government's $544 million transportation reconstruction
program in Iraq.
Szabat
also served on the Republicans in the California State Assembly, as a management
and budget aide to the Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and worked in a management consulting firm in the private sector.
Szabat
received a B.A. in economics and government from Georgetown University in 1981, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1988. Between Georgetown and Harvard, Joel was in the United States Army
during the Cold War, commanding tank units patrolling the East-West German
border.
Szabat
is from Sacramento, where he founded ILF, a non-profit organization
providing public service scholarships for Asian American college
students. His wife, Chiling Tong, works in the
Commerce Department.
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