CLADEC is pleased to welcome a new Chairman, Maritza Castro.

Maritza Castro joined DHL Express as Head of Customs & Regulatory Affairs for the Americas Region on September 1, 2011. Maritza is based in Washington, DC. Prior to working at DHL and CLADEC, Maritza was at Dell, Inc where she held the position of Senior Consultant, Government Affairs & International Policy since 2007. While at Dell, she managed the government relations practice for Latin America and was responsible for developing outreach initiatives, policy positions and interactions with government officials and policy makers. She also led Dell’s global policy development on market access, trade and cross-border challenges.

From 2001 to 2006, Maritza was Vice-president of Customs Modernization Projects at Sandler and Travis Trade Advisory Services. In this role, Maritza directed the establishment of the department and its reputation for customs compliance, as well as, providing international trade consultancy to the private sector, the US Government and international organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Maritza also spent nine years with the U.S. Customs Service in a variety of roles, and was at the US Trade Representative’s Office working with the Executive Office of the U.S. President, as Assistant Director, Office of North American Affairs. She worked with NAFTA negotiators to develop U.S. positions for market access, rules of origin and Customs.

Maritza holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The American University, Washington, DC and Masters of International Business Management at the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Glendale, AZ.