A real estate developer (including shopping malls), marketing and communications expert from Chicago is US President Barrack Obama’s choice for the next US ambassador for the Dominican Republic.
Over the weekend of Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June, the local media gave headlines to his leadership position in the gay community in the United States and to the fact he raised US$500,000 for the Obama presidential campaign. His nomination has also made headlines in the US.
James “Wally” Brewster, Jr. is the senior managing partner for SB&K Global, a brand strategy and consumer dynamics consulting firm based in Chicago, Illinois. Before this he was senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications with General Growth Properties (GGP), a major real estate and mall developing company.
The White House announcement says that prior to joining GGP in 1996, Brewster, a graduate of Texas A&M University, worked in management at several real estate companies in Texas, including The Rouse Company and the DeBartolo Corporation. Earlier in his career, he held marketing and management positions with Carla Francis, Inc. and the Jim Collins Company in Dallas, Texas.
The White House also reports that Brewster is a National LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community) Co-Chair for the Democratic National Committee and currently serves on the Board of the Human Rights Campaign Fund.
The nomination still needs to be approved by the US Senate.
The former US ambassador in the DR, Raul Yzaguirre, a Hispanic civil rights activist, resigned earlier this year due to ill health.
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/21/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts