Derek Chen is the Founder/Principal of Strategic International, providing legal and law-related consultancy services on international business issues. His practice concentrates on compliance and enforcement under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), including U.S. export controls on military and commercial products and technology. In addition to supporting clients with licensing, training and auditing matters, he has assisted in developing export management compliance programs and technology control programs. Derek is one of the few practitioners to have performed domestic and international U.S. government-directed export compliance audits. Derek counsels companies on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti Boycott provisions and represents clients in export enforcement issues at the Department of State, Commerce and Treasury. In addition, he advises both U.S. and international clients on economic sanctions and embargo regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Derek also provides business and marketing consultancy services to assist companies seeking to enter or develop their international market share. This includes creating export strategies and marketing plans, developing sales channels, establishing third-party intermediaries and advising on commercial and foreign country-specific issues. Before founding Strategic International, Derek worked in numerous capacities for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, including as the Director of Foreign Operations. He was also responsible for the State’s military/defense exports.

Additionally, Derek served as the State’s first Director of Motorsports Development. He spearheaded a groundbreaking program applying motorsports technologies to the U.S. military, ultimately leading to a research and development agreement between the U.S. Special Operations Command and the North Carolina motorsports industry. Derek serves on the Board of Directors as an Executive Committee Member for the Research Triangle Regional Partnership and is a Board Member of the French Tech Research Triangle. Derek is a German Marshall Fellow (2013) who received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina, a Master in international business law from the Université de Lyon (France) and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and French, double major) with both general and departmental honors from the Johns Hopkins University.