Marisa Lago
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Marisa Lago (born December 4, 1955) is an American attorney who served as the
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services. Duties The ITA's stated goals are to # Provide practical info ...
from 2021 to 2025. She previously served as director of the
New York City Department of City Planning The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
and chair of the City Planning Commission from 2017 to 2021. Before that, Lago served as assistant secretary for international markets and development in the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...
from 2010 to 2017, and as president and chief executive officer of the
Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...
from 2008 to 2009.


Early life and education

Born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, Lago is a 1973 graduate of
Morris Catholic High School Morris Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive Roman Catholic regional high school located in Denville Township, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school was founded in 1957 and operates as part of the Diocese o ...
in
Denville Township, New Jersey Denville Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the North Jersey, northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area ...
. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...
in 1977 and then studied applied mathematics at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
for one semester. Lago earned a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
in 1982.


Career

After completing law school, Lago spent one year as a law clerk for U.S. Circuit Judge Hugh H. Bownes in
Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...
. From February 1994 to January 1997, Lago served as director and chief economic development officer for the
Boston Redevelopment Authority The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...
in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. In August 2008, Lago was nominated by
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
governor
David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...
to serve as president and CEO of the
Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...
. After confirmation by the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
, she served until June 2009 and then continued to work as an advisor to the corporation until joining the Obama administration in February 2010.


Obama Administration

In September 2009, President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
nominated Lago to serve as assistant secretary for international markets and development. She appeared before the
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...
in November 2009 and was confirmed by voice vote of the full Senate in February 2010. After the resignation of James LaGarde Hudson, Lago also served as acting U.S. director of the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...
from December 2013 until the confirmation of Scott Ames Allen in November 2015. In November 2014, President Obama nominated Lago to be a deputy trade representative with the rank of ambassador and nominated
Wally Adeyemo Adewale O. "Wally" Adeyemo (born May 20, 1981) is an American attorney. He served as the United States deputy secretary of the treasury during the Presidency of Joe Biden. He was the first president of the Obama Foundation and served during the ...
to replace her as assistant secretary of the treasury. She appeared before the
Senate Committee on Finance The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...
in July 2015 and the committee advanced her nomination to the full Senate in August. Adeyemo's nomination was withdrawn in December 2015 and no further action was taken on Lago's nomination before the end of the Obama administration in January 2017.


New York City Government

In January 2017,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
mayor
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...
announced that Lago would succeed Carl Weisbrod as director of the Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission.


Biden Administration

In September 2021, President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
nominated Lago to be the next
under secretary of commerce for international trade The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services. Duties The ITA's stated goals are to # Provide practical info ...
. The
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
confirmed her on December 16, 2021, by voice vote, and she was sworn in on December 28, 2021. Lago was part of a Biden administration effort in April 2022 to help repair the United States' "strained relations" with
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, ''Axios'' reported. Lago traveled to Turkey to promote clean energy efforts in the region.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lago, Marisa 1955 births Biden administration personnel Cooper Union alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people Morris Catholic High School alumni New York (state) Democrats Obama administration personnel People from Brooklyn Under Secretaries of Commerce for International Trade United States assistant secretaries of the treasury Directors of the Boston Planning & Development Agency