B.A., University of St. Thomas; J.D., Hamline University; LL.M., Georgetown
Mara Burr is Director, Multilateral Relations, Office of the Secretary, Office of Global Affairs at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to her current position, she led the Public Health and Trade team on the International Affairs Staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.Before joining FDA, Ms. Burr was in private practice and worked with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG) Program, assisting the government of Vietnam in its efforts to undertake comprehensive legal and regulatory reform to implement its obligations under the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Previously, Ms. Burr was Senior Vice President for India and South Asia at ASG.Ms. Burr served as Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for South and Central Asian Affairs, from 2010 to 2014. In this position Ms. Burr was responsible for negotiating trade, investment, and economic policy agreements and issues for 14 countries in South Asia and Central Asia. Ms. Burr developed and concluded the groundbreaking agreements to promote women’s economic empowerment with the United States-Afghanistan and the United States-Pakistan Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Efforts to Enable the Economic Empowerment of Women and to Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship. Ms. Burr served as the lead U.S. official for both MOUs. Ms. Burr was also responsible for concluding and implementing both the United States-Nepal Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and the United States-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) and in the reforms for the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum.From 2004 to 2010, Ms. Burr served as the Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Environmental and Natural Resources, where she was the lead environment negotiator for the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, and the U.S. implementation of the environment chapter of the United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Ms. Burr was also the lead environment negotiator during the free trade agreement negotiations with Malaysia (2005-2007). She was responsible for implementation of the environmental provisions of the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement, the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and all the U.S. free trade agreements in the Middle East.Ms. Burr served as Special Counsel for International Trade Policy for a major NGO and in private practice working on international trade, customs, World Trade Organization dispute settlement cases and export control issues.Ms. Burr graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996 with an LL.M in International and Comparative Law, receiving the Dean’s Certificate for Outstanding Contributions to the Law Center, a Juris Doctor from Hamline University School of Law (1995) and a BA in Political Science from the University of St. Thomas (1991).