William A. Ramos was appointed by President Barack Obama as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and was sworn in on May 4, 2009. In this capacity Ramos works to promote President Obama’s and Commerce Secretary Pritzker’s policies, programs and initiatives with state and local elected officials across the 50 states, tribal governments, and territories as it relates to the 12 bureaus within the department. William is also a member of the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico.
Prior to joining President Obama’s Administration, Ramos was the Director of the Washington, D.C. Office of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. Ramos began his career in 1986 at ASPIRA of Florida, a Puerto Rican youth leadership development organization where he served as Deputy Director. In 1996 Ramos was appointed as Director of Policy and Legislation for a Miami-Dade County Commissioner. Ramos moved to Washington, DC in 2001 and has served as Director of Government Relations for Americas Promise: The Alliance for Youth founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and later joined the YMCA of the USA as a Government Relations and Policy Consultant.
Ramos earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Florida International University in 1985, and Master of Public Administration from Bernard Baruch College, School of Public Affairs at the City University of New York (CUNY) in 2006. Ramos is a 2006 alumnus of the prestigious National Urban Fellows program, through which he completed a fellowship for King County Executive Ron Sims in Seattle.
Ramos is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for his work, among them are the 2010 Ana G. Méndez University System Presidential Medal and the St. John’s University School of Law - 2010 Ronald H. Brown Civil Rights and Economic Development Award named after former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. Ramos is also the recipient of the 2013 Commerce Secretary Gold Medal Award, the Department of Commerce’s highest honorary award. In March 2015, Ramos was named to The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In May 2015, Baruch College School of Public Affairs - City University of New York (CUNY) recognized William as one of their ten distinguished alumni for excellence during the school’s 20th Anniversary celebration. Ramos is a highly acclaimed speaker and panelist on intergovernmental affairs and issues of importance to the Latino community and the country.