Biography

Kevin Klowden is the Executive Director of MI Finance at the Milken Institute. He specializes in the study of key factors that underlie the development of competitive regional economies (clusters of innovation, patterns of trade and investment, and concentration of skilled labor) and how these are influenced by public policy and, in turn, affect regional economies both globally and nationally. On a national level, he is heavily involved in trade, exports, and capital access for small businesses, including serving as chair of the US Department of Commerce's Trade Finance Advisory Council. He also helps to coordinate the Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets initiative with the US Small Business Administration, which focuses on funding for African-American and Latino small businesses. He has also been highly engaged in California's economy and workforce, including advising and writing on numerous subjects relating to California's workforce, technology, manufacturing, and export issues. His areas of expertise include technology-based development, entrepreneurship, and the digitization of the global economy, including trade, infrastructure, media, and entertainment. Klowden was the lead author of Strategies for Expanding California's Exports, which examined the vital role trade and exports play in the state economy and its underperformance relative to the country over the past decade. Further work on trade and investment has included A Golden Opportunity with China: How California Can Become an Even Bigger Destination for Chinese Foreign Investment. He has also written on the role of trade infrastructure in economic growth and job creation in the reports Jobs for America: Investments and Policies for Economic Growth and Competitiveness, as well as in publications including The Wall Street Journal. He has addressed the role of technology-based development in publications such as the biennial State Technology and Science Index, North America's High-Tech Economy, and location-specific studies in several states, including multiple pieces on job creation and opportunities in the entertainment industry. Klowden is a frequent speaker on state fiscal issues and has served on multiple advisory boards on business growth, economic development, and infrastructure. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics.