On The Move
New Carolina Welcomes Laura Leventis McKinney as Deputy Director
Aug 2, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC, July 24, 2012— New Carolina - South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness welcomes the addition of Laura Leventis McKinney as Deputy Director. A Columbia native, McKinney returns to South Carolina after 15 years in service to the U.S. government and U.S. business interests overseas. She brings her communication skills, economic development experience and consensus building to New Carolina as the organization moves forward to foster and grow new industry cluster initiatives across the State.
“New Carolina has led some incredibly impressive developments both in
business growth and education initiatives which I am excited to carry
forward. This is a great time to be in South Carolina, and I am very
proud to contribute to the betterment of my home state.” – Laura
McKinney
McKinney began her professional career abroad as the founding Executive
Director for the American Chamber of Commerce in Tallinn, Estonia. Building upon that experience, McKinney joined the Foreign Service of
the U.S. Department of State in 1999. She served as a Public Affairs
Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia and as the Vice Consul
at the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In addition to her professional work, McKinney relocated a number of
times in support of her husband Jim’s military career to Leavenworth,
Kansas; Tirana, Albania; Honolulu, Hawaii; and most recently to
Ljubljana, Slovenia where she again supported U.S. national interests
working at the U.S. Embassy.
McKinney is a graduate of AC Flora High
School in Columbia and the University of Virginia in Slavic Languages
and Literature. Laura and Jim reside in Columbia with their 5 wonderful
children.
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