Leah Goold-Haws is currently the President/CEO of the Long Beach Economic Partnership (aka
LBEP) an economic development cooperation operating on behalf of business attraction,
retention, economic growth and workforce readiness in the City of Long Beach.
Previously, Leah served on the City of Long Beach Economic Commission as the Commissioner
for International Trade and has collaborated with the Port of Long Beach to relaunch the World
Trade Center Long Beach under LBEP. Leah's career in international business spans over fifteen
years, having most recently served as the Statewide Director for the California International
Trade Center (CITC aka CITD) funded under the State of California Community Colleges
Chancellor's Office and directing her team in assisting companies across the state in preparing
for export readiness. Simultaneously, Leah served as the Sector Navigator for Global Trade,
providing guidance and support on international trade programming to the 114 colleges in the
California Community College system. Prior to that, Leah was a Regional Deputy Sector
Navigator of Global Trade, serving rural and urban communities in Northern and Southern
California.
Under her direction, the CITC transformed from traditional business counseling and training to
online services and virtual trade mission readiness while supporting broader business entry to
trade through cross-border ecommerce. Her innovative programming included new ways to
access trade services and employment through programs such as the Global VIP (virtual
internship) with training focused on digital marketing across global consumer social media
platforms and digital badge deployment to recognize key skills acquisition.
Prior to her work in the public sector, Leah is also the creator of Know Opportunity, a board
game that teaches global commerce and entrepreneurship, as featured in both Forbes and Inc
online magazines and selling to customers around the world. Leah founded a boutique
marketing firm, LGH Marketing/Strategy, focused on client needs both domestically and
globally. Her company, Mindevices, developed and sold educational content on global
entrepreneurship, integrating the board game with kinetic learning models for high school and
college students. Leah also launched and served as the executive director for Working
Strategies for Women, an initiative built on her curriculum, teaching women business owners
global entrepreneurship through a partnership with the United Way Northern California. As she
indicates in her TEDx talk “You Are Here”, Leah is a passionate entrepreneur and global
business advocate.

COMMUNITY:
Leah has served as the President of the Long Beach International Business Association, was a
board member of the Los Angeles World Trade Center, has served as an appointee to the
Leadership Task Force of the District Export Council of Southern California and is a member of
the Pacific Council on International Policy. Previously, Ms. Goold-Haws sat on the board
of NASBITE, the North American Small Business International Educators organization,
which serves educators and other organizations in advancing international trade

knowledge through content and services. She is currently on the board of Next
Generation Investment (NGI) which provides educator training and services to teachers
and training programs across Africa.