Jude Kearney
Jude Kearney has been elected to chair the board Winrock International of Little Rock and is the first African American to hold the position.
Kearney is the managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of ASAFO & Co. LLP and has served on Winrock’s board since February 2015.
Kearney is a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of commerce for services industries and trade finance, appointed by President Bill Clinton, and was chief advisor on African policies. He has experience in the energy, environmental, telecommunications, transportation and infrastructure sectors, having handled projects in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, China and other Asian countries. He has held several senior-level positions in some of the biggest international law firms in Washington, D.C., and New York.
In a news release, Kearney praised Winrock’s namesake, former Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, for Rockefeller’s contributions to the civil rights movement.
“He was a hero to many of us because of the things he did for the state at the time when it was most needed,” Kearney said. “I am proud of the work we are doing around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources, and I am eager to support and further those efforts in my new leadership role.”
Kearney has lived and worked in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Lagos, Nigeria; and Johannesburg, South Africa as well. He has participated in various trade and bilateral negotiations, including negotiations regarding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and market access with Japan and China.
Kearney’s areas of concentration include international project finance, trade policy, foreign markets, and mergers and acquisitions.
A native of Gould (Lincoln County), he is one of 19 children of sharecroppers Thomas James and Ethel Kearney. Kearney earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a juris doctorate from Stanford Law School.
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