President of Council for U.S.-Russia Relations (2011-2022) and Director Executive Secretariat RAPP (2003-2022)

As President and Founder of the Council of U.S.-Russia Relations, and Executive Director of the Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) bilateral forum, Derek Norberg worked with the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the Russian Ministries of Economic Development and Foreign Affairs, and with the regional administrations of the Russian Far East. The Council closed in 2022.

From 2003 through 2011, Derek worked as the Executive Director of RAPP and Director Business Services at the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC).

In 2001 and 2002, Derek was Director of Operations with the Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI) in San Francisco, and from 2000 to 2001 the Country Director in Baku, Azerbaijan with the Eurasia Foundation.

In 1997 and 1998, Derek was Vice-President and Regional Director in the Russian Far East for The U.S.-Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF). In the 1990s, Derek enjoyed various management positions with the U.S.-Russian joint-venture company “Marine Resources Company International” (MRCI), and in the late 1980s, worked on Soviet fishing joint-ventures in U.S. waters off Alaska, Washington and Oregon.

His professional experience includes sales, fisheries, timber and wood processing, finance and investment, and government relations.

Derek has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California Berkeley, with non-degree Russian Studies post-graduate work at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He speaks Russian.