It seems that whatever Deborah Kielty does, it has an international flair to it.
Kielty, 49, already has retired from one global career and is well ensconced in another.
She?s the president and executive director of Baltimore?s World Trade Center Institute, a nonprofit organization that since 1989 has worked to connect Maryland businesses with the world.
Kielty took the leadership role in October 2001 after a 20-year career with Procter & Gamble Co.
Even Kielty?s children are international travelers. A single parent, Kielty adopted two girls ? Jaden, 7, and Kyla, 4 ? from China and has seen to it that they share in her world travels. So far, they’ve been to China, Spain and Italy.
“I love seeing the world through their eyes,” said Kielty, who at 5-foot-4-inches tall is a towering presence in her office overlooking Baltimore?s Inner Harbor.
“She?s a great inspiration,” said Ashlee Thomson, manager of marketing, communications and events planning at the WTCI. “She?s open to ideas and keeping us motivated.”
Kielty?s international odyssey began at age 16, when she traveled for six weeks throughout Mexico. Upon returning to her native San Francisco, she began marking a map with her destinations, believing she had seen most of the world.
“I realized I had seen nothing,” she said.
After studying at the University of California at Santa Barbara and earning a master?s degree in international management from Thunderbird?s American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz., she launched a professional career that took her to Rome, London and Mexico City, spending several years in each city.
Today, her international career is all about building relationships.
“The World Trade Center Institute is the most dynamic international business hub in the region,” she said. “It is ideally suited to networking and making connections, which lead to significant business opportunities, jobs and growth in Maryland.”
With the world in a state of constant flux, Kielty said the importance of connections with international business leaders and power brokers cannot be underestimated.
“You don?t know what will happen at any moment. We are helping create a magical link,” she said. “Relationships are the underpinning of every business dealing. The [business relationship] seeds planted today are the trees of tomorrow.”
Deborah Kielty
» First job: Assistant lifeguard, Sylvan Pool in northern California
» Education/credentials: MBA, Garvin School of International Management, Glendale, Ariz.; B.A., University of California Santa Barbara
» Best job perk: Walking towork
» Daily e-mails received: About 200, including plenty of SPAM
» Daily voice mails received: About 20
» Essential Web sites: Financial Times – ft.com, tripadvisor.com, google.com
» Career objective: Stay passionate, stay global; make money, give it away, make a difference
» Favorite gadget: Handheld cappuccino frother
» Hometown: Modesto, Calif.
» Birth date: Dec. 6, 1956
» Original aspirations: Travel and educate the world with the United States Information Agency or Peace Corps
» Sports/hobbies: Boating, World Cup soccer, film festivals, involvement with Families with Children from China
