Elvis Cordova has assumed the duties of the Agriculture undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, succeeding Ed Avalos, who held the position from the beginning of the Obama administration until mid-September. Cordova is now officially the deputy undersecretary.
The undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs oversees the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
Cordova previously served as chief of staff for the Research, Education & Economics Mission Area at USDA, where he helped to oversee the Agricultural Research Service, the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistical Service, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Before joining USDA, he served as a presidential management fellow at the Farm Credit Administration and at the Energy Department, where he worked on issues encompassing alternative energy, economic development, financial services, and international and public affairs.
Before relocating to Washington, he lived in Argentina and Brazil, where he conducted research on economic and trade development.
He also worked in New York City at the United Nations as a consultant, where he researched state capacity building strategies aimed at enhancing trade development in emerging markets. Cordova began his career as a financial analyst at Harvard Management Co. in Boston.
Cordova holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in public administration from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. He also holds various professional and academic certificates from Georgetown University, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Universidad de Sevilla in Spain, Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat in France, and Pontificia Universidade Catolica in Brazil.
