Yohannes nominated for Millennium Challenge Corp

The Obama administration has announced the next head of the Millennium Challenge Corp. Denver area banker Daniel Yohannes has been tapped to head the federal agency that works with poor nations.

From the Denver Business Journal, writer Mark Harden gives us more of Yohannes' background.

The MCC works with developing countries to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Yohannes will succeed John Danilovich, who resigned as the agency's CEO; Darius Mans has been acting CEO.

Yohannes is president and CEO of M&R Investments, a private investment firm that focuses on the clean-energy sector.

He was an executive of Colorado National Bank and its successor, U.S. Bank, from 1992 to 2003, including a stint as CEO of U.S. Bank's Colorado division. Previously he was an executive for Security Pacific Bank, now part of Bank of America.

Yohannes, a native of Ethiopia, was a key organizer of local efforts to host the 1997 "Summit of the Eight" conference of world leaders in Denver.

He served as co-leader of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's transition team in the months before Ritter took office in 2007 and has since been a member of the governor's Jobs Cabinet.