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Maryavis Bokal
Senior International Trade Specialist,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
Newport Beach, CA

Maryavis Bokal is a Senior International Trade Specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce based in Newport Beach, California. Her primary responsibilities in southern California which utilize her 20+ years of export marketing experience include identification of U.S. firms market specific export needs, and the appropriate use of U.S. Commercial Service capabilities worldwide to help meet those needs.

In addition to her tenure with the U.S. Commercial Service in Orange County, CA, Ms. Bokal served the U.S. Commercial Service in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, D.C. She has held leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Asia Pacific, HealthCare Technologies and Safety & Security Teams. While in the private sector and prior to moving to Orange County in 1990, she was Manager, International Government Sales for a multi-million dollar telecommunications company and an international trainer and management consultant with her own international sales firm. A member of several business groups, including the Economics Club of Chicago, Maryavis serves on the Advisory Board of select not-for-profit organizations.

While in the private sector Maryavis received several honors among them as a member of the Illinois District Export Council (DEC), and named “Woman of the Year” by the Business and Professional Women’s Association. Her work with her colleagues in the U.S. Commercial Service has included:

• preparation of the Chicago Bears for their first trip to play the Dallas Cowboys at Wembley Stadium in London;
• implementation of a nationwide strategy for medium and smaller sized U.S. firms to utilize the “advocacy” assistance available to them from the USDOC & U.S. Embassies;
• expanding the “long term efforts” of her colleagues within the Commercial Service to get more American firms successfully bidding projects funded by multi-lateral development banks such as those of the Asian Development Bank (ADB);
• helping create and implement with her colleagues in the Orange County/Newport Beach office, on-line export marketing tools throughout the Commercial Service including e-Market Expresses, e-Showtime, Industry Focused Promotion Trade Lead Program which are in response to needs & requests from U.S. firms.

A graduate of American University in Washington D.C., she is married to Richard Toman, a corporate attorney, and fondly adds to her titles and responsibilities that of “Mom” of 26year old daughter, Kate, who lives/works in Boston, MA, and 19 year old son, R.J, a freshman at University of New Hampshire.