Rita Valkovskaya is a Business & Industry Analyst at the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions. In this role she is responsible for advancing commercialization of novel technologies and ensuring commercialization thinking across the federal government and beyond. Her work includes wide engagement with the U.S. national labs, inter-agency, and the private sector.
In the past she has served as an International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration Industry and Analysis unit, where she focused on industry engagement and analysis of critical mineral and gases supply chains, as well as commercial international engagements with Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, and funding initiatives for critical minerals projects. She has also served as a Sanctions Investigator at the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and a public sector consultant at Grant Thornton.
In her first career, Rita spent close to a decade as a development and production manager in the fashion industry, working with mass producers and niche startup luxury developers. Her work centered on managing domestic and international garment, fabric and trim producers to develop novel textiles, treatments and designs.
Rita earned her B.S. in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, an A.A.S. in Fashion Design from the Parson' School of Design, and an MPA from the Syracuse University Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs. Rita is a Boren Fellow (Tajikistan), a Fulbright-Hays Fellow, and a Presidential Management Fellow winner.