Sarah Stephens has brought hundreds of public officials, business executives, philanthropists, artists and cultural figures to Cuba.

Empire State Development hired us to help Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York organize and lead a trade mission for state agency officials and the leadership of five airline, biotech, enterprise software, financial services, and food industry firms located in New York State. Results included a final agreement for Roswell Park Cancer Institute to conduct clinical trials for Cuba’s lung cancer vaccine; a decision by JetBlue to serve Cuba’s travel market for U.S. visitors; and a decision by Infor to provide software to Cuba’s health sector. Cuba Strategy Group was retained by one New York business to provide ongoing strategic advice.

We worked with Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia to plan and lead a trade mission to Cuba for Virginia state agencies and businesses in agriculture and other sectors. Results included a signed agreement between Cuba’s Port of Mariel and the Virginia Port Authority to assess commercial opportunities for bilateral trade, and an academic exchange accord reached between the University of Havana and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sarah Stephens has led delegations for 68 Democratic and Republican Members of the U.S. Senate and House, and for dozens of Congressional leadership, committee, and personal office staff for policymakers seeking direct contact with high officials of Cuba’s government, state-owned enterprises, and the Cuban people.  These trips educate policymakers on the impact of U.S. policy on Cuba and the attitudes of Cubans toward the United States. Results included first time visits to the island for Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN), Representative Tom Emmer (MN-6), and Representative Kathy Castor (FL-14), the chief Senate and House sponsors of legislation to lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba; first-time visits for members of the Freedom (Tea Party) Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus; and conclusion of trade-related memoranda of understanding between U.S. policymakers and the Government of Cuba.

Following President Obama’s historic decision to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, a high-level U.S. government delegation—including the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH) leadership, the chairs of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, and over a dozen artists and cultural leaders—was assembled to visit Cuba. PCAH retained us to plan the trip, and prepare, train, and educate members of the delegation to deal respectfully and productively with their high-level Cuban counterparts. Results included agreements reached between the NEA, the NEH, and PCAH with the Cuban government on cultural exchange.

Sarah led a fact-finding mission of the U.S. Conference of Mayors that resulted in a decision by the Conference at its annual meeting to endorse a lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the first time in the organization’s history.

Over a dozen Fortune 500 corporations and industry leaders in the agriculture, automotive, airline, chemical, consumer products, electronics, financial services, food and organic food, IT, retail, and telecommunications sectors have come to us with one goal in mind: getting strategic counsel on how to start relationships with relevant counterparts in Cuba’s government and state-owned enterprises that will result in commercial relationships, contracts, and sales. 

IN THE NEWS

Voices: Trump Win Casts Shadow on U.S., Cuba Relations, NBCNews
After the last eight years of hard work by CDA and our allies to normalize relations with Cuba, this report by NBC News documents our contributions – such as the strategic travel we’ve hosted for U.S. policymakers – and discusses the challenges that will follow President-elect Trump’s election.

Pro-engagement group toasts with Cuban rum, prepares for uphill battle on future policy, The Miami Herald
In this profile of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, the Miami Herald calls CDA “one of the key players in pushing to change the public's views on Cuba and to persuade the Obama administration to make a 180-degree turn on its policy toward the island.”  “Sarah is the ultimate networker between the U.S. and Cuba,” said Peter Kornbluh, coauthor of the book Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. “She is a human bridge.” Read this article in Spanish