Christen Peterson

Christine Peterson facilitates sustainable and inclusive international economic opportunities for Los Angeles. She supports international trade

growth, strengthens the City’s relationships with foreign governments and businesses, and attracts foreign direct investment (FD) to Los Angeles. She

also works to equip small businesses with resources, tools, and financing to sell their products and services to consumers around the world and grow

their businesses locally. She advises the Mayor and her team on international trade, investment and global economic issues that affect Los Angeles. She also leads the Mayor’s support for the Port of LA’s

Green Shipping Corridor initiatives.

Previously, Christine worked as Director of International Trade & Investment in the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti. Christine helped create Global LA – a partnership to promote the L.A. region internationally ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and bring job-creating FDI to Los Angeles with a focus on underserved communities. She has developed L.A. trade missions to Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK, and Vietnam.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, she developed U.S. intellectual property (IP) and innovation trade policy in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and negotiated IP commitments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. She also led the IP Working Group of the U.S.-UK Trade and Investment Working Group during Brexit. As chair of the interagency Special 301 committee, she managed the U.S. government’s annual reviews and reports of IP protection and enforcement in countries and marketplaces around the world (“Special 301 Report” and “Notorious Markets List”). She also led the IP reviews and negotiations to determine Ukraine’s eligibility and reinstate benefits for Argentina under the Generalized System of Preferences. She has also worked in the International Trade Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce where she assisted IP-intensive companies in developing export strategies and addressing trade barriers.

She holds a JD magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law and a BA with honors from Smith College.