Brian Beams & Philipp Fortin

About Brian Beams & Philipp Fortin

A decorated active-duty veteran of the U.S. Air Force, who holds a BBA with an emphasis in Finance, Brian has over 25 years of private and public sector experience. He has held supervisory positions in the U.S. Air Force and within the aerospace and defense industries as an operations manager and accounting
manager. Later Brian earned his Registered Investment Representative Designations (FINRA Series: 7, 63, 65) and managed multi-million-dollar portfolios for his accredited investor clientele.
Before joining the U.S. Commercial Service Northern New Jersey Office, he was a career service employee with the U.S. Department of State, United States Mission to the United Nations. His areas of focus were Diplomacy and National Security, and his clientele were the members of the Foreign UN Missions and Consular Corp. He is a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Franklin Award
for his distinguished service as a public servant.
With U.S. Commercial Service, Brian is currently the Deputy Director for the Global Finance Team. He has executed over 60 fundraising trade missions for the U.S. private equity and venture capital space. He is also a Co-Founder and Deputy Team Leader for the VetsGoGlobal initiative, which connects the Veteran Business Ecosystem to global markets. To add he is a Co- Creator for Export Week, a national initiative, and the Disaster Resilience multi-sector initiative. Brian is a multiple recipient of the ITA Star Award, and Special Act Award.
Brian currently lives in Hudson County, New Jersey with his wife, Dr. Vivian Ng and their three- year-old son Chester. He enjoys reading books on psychology, sociology, military history, and earth and space sciences. His favorite color is green. Brian is an active member and volunteer with the New Jersey Wildlife Conservation Corp. He enjoys hiking, camping, swimming, and
golfing whenever possible.

Philipp Fortin is a Commercial Specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada. In his daily work, Philipp assists U.S.companies in growing their business in Canada and helps Canadian companies identify U.S. suppliers. He covers the safety & security, Arctic engagement activities, and sporting goods sectors nationally; and education, power generation and energy, chemicals, franchising, hospitality equipment, and laboratory and scientific instruments for Eastern Ontario.
He joined the U.S. Commercial Service in December 2020 after completing a
double-master’s degree in international business from the University of
Queensland and Queen’s University. In addition, Philipp holds a BA in international development from the University in Ottawa. He previously interned
with the U.S. Commercial Service in 2015, and has held other internship positions with Global Affairs Canada and the Delegation of the European Union to Canada.