Since June 2004, Julie Carducci has served as Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center in Chicago. She first joined the Export Assistance Center in September 2002, as senior trade specialist. Prior to this, she served as Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, from 1998-2002, and at the American Institute in Taiwan, from 1996-1998. Julie also worked from 1992-1996 in the Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel. Before joining the Department, Julie was employed at a property management company in Shanghai, and at a Chinese trading company in New York.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Julie holds an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.