The Biden-Harris Administration - First 100 Days

Scott Eisner is president of the U.S.-Africa Business Center (USAfBC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is also an officer at the Chamber serving as senior vice president. Eisner represents the Chamber’s interests in Africa through its U.S.-Africa Business Center, the business community’s leading advocacy group aimed at strengthening U.S.-Africa trade relations. He directs the strategic activities of the USAfBC as it engages with senior-level U.S. government officials, international business leaders, and African governments. In addition, he heads the Chamber’s U.S.-South Africa Business Council and the U.S.-Cote d’Ivoire Business Council.

Previously, Eisner was head of operations for the Chamber’s International Affairs Division while holding the position of vice president, African Affairs. Before that, he was deputy chief of staff at the Chamber where he oversaw the Executive Office and was the senior staffer to the Chamber’s president and CEO.

Eisner has held a number of leadership roles at the Chamber, including special assistant to the president and CEO and director of programs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, formerly known as the National Chamber Foundation.

Before joining the Chamber, Eisner held positions in the political arena, most notably his work on Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign and his reelection to the Senate in 2004.

Eisner spent time in international politics working for the International Republican Institute in Malawi, Africa, where he trained political parties on communications and campaign tactics leading up to Malawi’s 2004 presidential elections.

Earlier, he was director of business development for the Kronk Boxing Gym, one of boxing’s leading management and training firms. His duties included promoting and training former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Eisner graduated with a degree in political science from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He is a former member of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa. He currently serves on the advisory board for City Year South Africa, the Coalition for Development Reform, the Africa Leadership Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Center Africa Program Advisory Council, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation Advisory Council.

Eisner lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their daughter.

Florizelle (Florie) Liser is the third President and CEO of CCA. Ms. Liser brings expertise and an extensive network on trade and Africa to her new role, along with a strong track record of working with the private sector to translate policy into action. She is the first woman to lead the Council since its founding in 1993.

Ms. Liser joined CCA from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she was the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa since 2003. At USTR, she led trade and investment policy towards 49 sub-Saharan African nations and oversaw implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Previously, Ms. Liser served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access, and Telecommunications from 2000-2003. She also served as Senior Trade Policy Advisor in the Office of International Transportation and Trade at the Department of Transportation from 1987-2000; worked as a Director in USTR’s Office of GATT Affairs, and served as an Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Council (ODC) from 1975-1980.

Currently, she is a co-chair of the Advisory Council for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and a member of the Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee for the Export-Import Bank (EXIM). Previously, she served as a Board member for the Women in International Trade (WIIT). Ms. Liser holds a M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Dickinson College.

Florizelle (Florie) Liser is the third President and CEO of CCA. Ms. Liser brings expertise and an extensive network on trade and Africa to her new role, along with a strong track record of working with the private sector to translate policy into action. She is the first woman to lead the Council since its founding in 1993.

Witney Schneidman has nearly 40 years of experience working across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Drawing on his experience in the State Department, the World Bank, think tanks and his own consulting practice, Dr. Schneidman, a non-lawyer, has advised energy, technology, consumer and health companies, among others, on projects in more than 30 African countries. He has also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, and on the Africa advisory committees in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and at the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Dr. Schneidman provides strategic advice on the varied political, economic, social and regulatory issues that are critical to companies’ success in Africa. This includes issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility, compliance, market entry and risk mitigation. He played a leading role in the passage and recent reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and was a delegate to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit co-hosted by President Obama during his visit to Kenya.

Dr. Schneidman chairs Covington’s Africa Practice Group and is a senior member of the firm’s Public Policy Practice Group, the International Strategy Group and the International Trade and Finance Group.

Dr. Schneidman has written extensively on African economic and political issues and aired his views on CBS News, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC and the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, among other media outlets. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution.