Kevin Klowden is the Executive Director and Chief Global Strategist of the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics and California Center. 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. On a national level, he is heavily involved in issues of capital access for small business, including serving as chair of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Trade Finance Advisory Council. He co-led the Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets initiative with the U.S. Small Business Administration, which focused on funding for African-American and Latino small businesses. His areas of expertise include technology-based development, capital access, infrastructure, the global economy, media, and entertainment. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and London School of Economics.