Stephan Wasylko
Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy, Ottawa

Stephan Wasylko is the Senior Commercial Officer (SCO) at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and is  responsible for directing and managing the U.S. Department of Commerce's trade development programs and business facilitation services throughout Canada. He serves as a key member of the U.S. Ambassador’s Country Team and works with business and government representatives on both sides of the border to advance U.S. commercial interests and strengthen U.S. – Canada commercial relations.

Stephan began his career in international trade in 1976 with the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration, in Washington, DC. Since then, he has served as an international trade specialist in the New Jersey District Office and as a project manager with the Bureau of East-West Trade, where he assisted U.S. exporters with their marketing and business development programs in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and China. In 1981, Stephan joined the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service and has served with distinction as the Senior Commercial Officer (SCO) in Czechoslovakia (81-83), Hungary (85-89), Ukraine (92-95),  Russia (00-03) and the United Kingdom (03 – 07). He also successfully completed two earlier assignments in Canada, as Principal Commercial Officer (PCO) at U.S. Consulates in Vancouver (89-92) and Toronto (95-00).

Stephan has been consistently recognized for his sustained superior performance and major accomplishments in meeting U.S. commercial mission goals and objectives abroad. He earned numerous citations and performance awards for his pioneering work in establishing U.S. Commercial Service operations in Ukraine and a Department of State Meritorious Honor Award for his leadership, wisdom and courage in protecting employees and property during violent ethnic demonstrations at the U.S. Consulate General in Toronto in 1999.

Stephan was born in Salzburg, Austria and reared in Auburn, New York. He earned his BA in International Relations, with a concentration on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, at Syracuse University in 1970. After completing his military service with the U.S. Army (71-73), he earned an MBA in International Trade and Finance at the University of Toronto in 1975. Stephan has a wide range of language skills, including Ukrainian, Czech, Russian, Polish, Hungarian and German. He and his wife Carol have two grown children living and working in New York City.