The US Chamber of Commerce is the country’s largest business community organization. While the group is headed by big whigs, even small business owners can join. Joining can help businesses to improve their networking, among other things. Below are some of the top people in charge of the Chamber of Commerce and what they do to help business owners throughout the United States.
Suzanne Clark
Suzanne Clark is the CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce. Within the Chamber of Commerce, she works to find ways to bolster the economy. She had been instrumental in keeping the economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clark did this by fighting for increased small business support and lobbying in support of the Paycheck Protection Program.
Several factors have helped Clark to qualify for the job. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s in business degree from Georgetown University. Currently, she also serves on the board for The Economic Club of Washington D.C. and AGCO. Since 2019, she has won several awards, including The Fund of American Studies Business Leadership Award and the Baldrige Foundation’s Award for Leadership Excellence.
Neil Bradley
Neil Bradley holds several titles within the Chamber of Commerce. He is the Executive Vice President, Head of Strategic Advocacy, and the Chief Policy Officer. With all of this, it’s no wonder that he oversees several projects at a time, including in government affairs. This allows him to influence legislation (laws) on the local, state, and even federal levels!
So, what qualifies him for a job with so much responsibility? Before joining the Chamber of Commerce, he spent twenty years working within the House of Representatives. However, he was never a representative himself. Instead, he worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff under Keven McCarthy (Republican, California), Eric Cantor (Republican, Virginia), and Whip Roy Blunt (Republican, Missouri) at different points in time.
Myron Brilliant
Brilliant’s name precedes him. He is the Executive Vice President, as well as the Head of the International Affairs Division. In this position, he grew the Chamber of Commerce’s International Government Relationship Program. He has also strengthened relationships between the Chamber of Commerce and the American Chambers of Commerce and World Bank.
Before holding these positions in the Chamber of Commerce, he was the Chamber of Commerce’s Vice President for Asia. Before starting work with the Chamber of Commerce almost 20 years ago in 1994, he worked as an attorney at Stewart and Stewart. He attended both the University of Maryland and the Washington College of Law.
Carolyn Cawley
Carolyn Cawley also holds a couple of positions within the Chamber of Commerce. She is both the Senior Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce as a whole, as well as the President of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Unlike the Chamber of Commerce as a whole, the Foundation is a nonprofit. Since Cawley has been working with the foundation, the foundation has launched new programs, including NextGen program for MBA students and the America Working Forward to increase the number of jobs in impoverished areas of the country.
Before joining the Chamber of Commerce in 2015, Cawley worked as a partner for FleishmanHillard. Even earlier in her career, she worked with President George H. W. Bush’s speech writing staff and Governor Pete Wilson’s (Republican, California) aide. In total, she has over 20 years of working with the government in one way or another!
There are many more important members of the US Chamber of Commerce; these are just some of the people who are highest up on the leadership chain. These are the people who direct other government employees that work their hardest to improve the economy in the United States. Any small business owner can apply to work with the Chamber of Commerce. Others, even if they do not own a small business, can also apply to work directly for the Chamber of Commerce. The employees at the Chamber of Commerce are here to support business owners all across the country.
