Matei Balaita is an experienced business developer with over 25 years of international experience both in the private sector and public administration. He holds a BA in Political Science from Bard College, NY, and an MA in International Affairs from The American University in Washington DC. His career includes working for several political consulting firms in DC as well as managing the Romanian branch office of The Gallup Organization, during which time he managed to increase the company revenue tenfold. In 2013, Matei joined the Romanian public administration, initially as the Head of Office at the Romanian Commercial Office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and then as a Trade and Economic Advisor to the Ambassador of Romania to the United States, in Washington DC. During his tenure at the Embassy of Romania in Washington DC, Matei developed an initiative in partnership with some of the largest companies in Romania, focused on creating an American business ecosystem in Romania capable of pivoting opportunistically towards the reconstruction of Ukraine. He managed to successfully leverage the professional experience and his extended network of business contacts in the US and match them with the public and private stakeholders in Romania in order to generate business opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. Since its inception about a year ago, his initiative has partnered with and hosted more than 100 companies, resulting in a networking database of approximately 2000 industry professionals and valued relationships, representing more than $2 billion invested in U.S. goods and services.
