Leonard Mitchell

Biography

Leonard Mitchell has more than 25 years of comprehensive, multi-level experience as a Counselor at Law and Consultant to Executive Level Management in areas of: Business Law, Business Workouts, The Law and Finance of Corporate Acquisitions, Business Torts, Business Start-up Finance, Business Planning, Business Reorganization, Public School System Finance and Administration, Investor Owned Utility Finance, Organization and Management of Federal Government Agencies.

He served in the Carter/Mondale Administration as a member of the Transition Planning Team and was Lead Advisor to President Carter on transition policy, operating strategy and recommendations for cabinet and sub-cabinet appointments for the primary financial related agencies and organizations: Treasury Department, Council of Economic Advisors, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Office of Management and Budget, Import/Export Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, U.S. Executive Director and the candidate for President of the World Bank.

Mr. Mitchell served as Staff Consultant to the Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, The Honorable Peter Rodino, and conducted a national study on “Hostile Corporate Takeovers: Their Financing and Related Implications in Financial Markets and on Employment.” The study was conducted within the Subcommittee on Monopolies and Commercial Law, The U.S. House of Representatives, and also chaired by Peter Rodino.

During the past several years, Mr. Mitchell has focused his broad-based experience and extensive expertise in corporate and commercial finance on developing alternative financing methods for international trade transactions, corporate acquisitions, real estate, economic development and redevelopment projects. He is currently conducting research on “New Financing Vehicles” to establish trade relationships between depressed U.S. communities and developing countries. This initiative grew out of years of extensive travel throughout the world including Africa, Western Europe, North and South America, Near and Far East, and the Pacific.

In addition to the work above, Mr. Mitchell has spent significant amounts of time over the last three years researching and developing background information on Eco-Industrial Parks and Sustainable Communities, their development and financing.

Mr. Mitchell earned a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from Goddard College; a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Investments from The George Washington University; and a Juris Doctorate degree in Law from the Antioch School of Law, Antioch University. Presently, Mr. Mitchell serves on the staff and as an adjunct faculty member at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, where he is also the Director of the USC Center for Economic Development. His areas of academic interest and teaching are Real Estate Development Finance and Law, Regional and Local Economic Development, Economic Development Finance and Law, International Trade Finance and Law.