Patricia R. Sheikh

Patricia R. Sheikh is Managing Partner, for Innovative Agricultural Solutions (IAS) where she provides strategic real time solutions for clients interested in implementing sound business solutions related to agricultural production and trade policy issues, providing promotion and investment opportunities, and offering cutting edge business advisory services. She brings to the organization over 35 years of expertise in global trade and development issues having worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, in several key senior level positions, including managing global trade relations at the bilateral, regional and global levels. While at FAS, she developed the first ever Africa trade and development strategy and is an expert in furthering agricultural trade and policy under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. She developed and conducted numerous workshops at the bilateral and regional levels focused on the World Trade Organization Agreement (WTO) and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). She takes a holistic approach to agricultural trade systems by incorporating the interconnection between health and agriculture.

Sheikh holds a B.A. in History and Political Science with a minor in Economics from the Notre Dame of Maryland University and a M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Ms. Sheikh serves on several boards and has numerous awards acknowledging her accomplishments, including the Presidential Meritorious Executive Award and the President Rank Award. She formerly worked as Senior Vice President , Roots of Peace, a non-profit organization based in California that specializes in rebuilding the agricultural value chain from production to processing, marketing, distribution and export of agricultural products.