Enforcement leadership

Mr. Kurland is responsible for implementing BIS’s export enforcement program, overseeing a dedicated team of analysts and Special Agents that enforce BIS’s export control and antiboycott missions. BIS Special Agents and analysts are located in 30 domestic locations and ten embassies/consulates around the globe.

Mr. Kurland previously served as BIS’s Deputy Chief of Staff-Policy for the Under Secretary for Industry and Security from 2019-2021, Director of the Office of Enforcement Analysis from 2011-2021, and member of the White House Task Force on Export Control Reform from 2009-2017.

Mr. Kurland also previously served BIS as Acting Chief of Staff for Export Administration from 2009-2011, Director of the Office of Technology Evaluation from 2006-2011, and Director of the Treaty Compliance Division from 2002-2006.

Prior to joining BIS in 1997, he worked as an international trade analyst at Graham & James, LLC.

Mr. Kurland holds an M.A. in Comparative Regional Studies Europe from The American University and a B.A. in International Relations from Syracuse University.

In December 2021, Mr. Kurland was awarded the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award.

Molly S. Braese is the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement at the Bureau of Industry and Security (Department of Commerce).  She is also an Adjunct Professor on Transnational Crime at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies. 

Ms. Braese previously served as the Director for Transnational Organized Crime in the Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Directorate at the National Security Council (NSC).  In that role, Ms. Braese was responsible for formulating and implementing government-wide policies and programs related to transnational organized crime.  Prior to joining the White House, Ms. Braese held various roles in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, as well as at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  

Ms. Braese earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Michigan State University College of Law, and her B.A. in Italian Literature from the University of Connecticut.