Raw Materials

2023-06-14

ICAC announces Eric Trachtenberg as its 8th Executive Director

Mr Eric Trachtenberg has been selected by the Members of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) to serve as the 8th Executive Director since the organisation was founded in 1939.

The ICAC’s current Executive Director ad interim, Ms Caroline Taco — who is also the Business Development Manager — will serve until 16 August, when Mr Trachtenberg will assume the duties of Executive Director on a full-time basis.

Mr Trachtenberg has a wealth of impressive credentials that earned him the position:

Mr Trachtenberg has more than 25 years’ experience working in international agricultural development and trade.

In his current position at the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, he leads design and implementation of programs worth more than $900 million to improve food security and strengthen land productivity.

At McLarty Associates, he counselled corporations, investors, and non-profits in the food and agriculture sector globally and served as a Private Sector Mechanism delegate to the UN Committee on World Food Security.

For most of his career, Mr Trachtenberg served as a Foreign Service Officer at USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) both in Washington and abroad.

He has a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Southern California, a Master’s of Science in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Government and Economics.

Mr Trachtenberg studied Russian and Mandarin Chinese.

‘I am greatly honoured by the opportunity to serve as Executive Director of the ICAC. Cotton supports over 100 million families worldwide and generates revenues for some of the world’s poorest countries,’ Mr Trachtenberg said. 'I look forward to working with our Members and other stakeholders to build upon ICAC’s unique strengths in analysis and as a convenor to support market expansion, sustainability, poverty reduction, and economic development’.

Mr Trachtenberg will continue in his current role as the Practice Lead and Senior Director of the Millennium Challenge Corp’s Land and Agricultural Economy Practice Group until he assumes the ICAC Executive Director position in Washington, DC.