Ex-secretary of state Carnahan joins D.C. consulting firm

Former Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan has joined Washington, D.C.-based Albright Stonebridge Group as a senior director.

ASG calls itself a global strategy firm that helps corporations, associations and nonprofit organizations around the world meet their core objectives.

“Robin brings another dimension to our team by combining global business experience with many years of leadership at the state level in both public and private sector organizations,” Madeleine K. Albright, ASG chairwoman, said in a statement. “Her expertise, network, and insights will add enormous value to the work we do for our clients in every corner of the globe.”

Carnahan brings global and domestic expertise in both the public and private sectors across a diverse range of issues from international trade and finance to strategic planning, risk mitigation, regulatory compliance and building public-private partnerships, according to an ASG press release.

Carnahan said she is “delighted” to be joining ASG’s international commercial diplomacy practice.

“I have admired the firm and its leadership for their integrity and breadth of experience and look forward to putting my expertise and understanding of both state and local public policy and the needs of business to work adding value for clients around the globe,” she said in a statement.

Carnahan served as Missouri’s secretary of state for eight years, from 2005 until 2013. After the 2008 financial crisis, her leadership as the state’s top securities regulators was widely recognized in negotiating record settlements of over $10 billion on behalf of investors, the ASG said.

Prior to becoming secretary of state, Carnahan served as an executive at the Export-Import Bank of the United States and practiced corporate law. In 2005, Carnahan became an inaugural member of the Aspen Institute Rodel Fellows in Public Leadership program.

This fall, Carnahan will serve as a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago’s nonpartisan Institute of Politics. In 1990, Carnahan joined the National Democratic Institute in Central and Eastern Europe, promoting democracy and fair elections. She serves on the Board of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which promotes democracy and civil society programs in more than 80 countries and advises a number of civic technology start-ups.

Carnahan earned her bachelor’s degree from William Jewell College and her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as executive editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law.