CCT Professor Highlight: Kenya Wiley has Written a New Article for The Washington Post

CCT is excited to share that Professor Kenya Wiley authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post emphasizing the importance of updating the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to help advance environmental sustainability and fashion tech in sub-Saharan Africa. Prof. Wiley noted how secondhand clothing exports from the Global North end up as textile waste in the Global South (as reported by industry sources), and how updating AGOA can help address the issue.

AGOA — a trade preference program with the U.S. and certain African countries — was first signed into law in 2000 and is set to expire in 2025. The Post published the piece during Kenyan President William Ruto’s state visit to the United States. Professor Wiley also discussed why investing in talent across Africa is crucial to prevent future pollution— including circular economy startups and entrepreneurs in fashion tech and green energy.

Wiley also serves as a policy counsel to entities in fashion and tech— focusing on the intersection of environmental sustainability and innovation in fashion and retail. As a leading voice in fashion law and policy, Wiley has also written for WWD, CNN and ELLE, and she has presented at academic symposia, industry and government stakeholder events, including at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the International Trade Administration. Wiley created Georgetown’s first fashion law course in 2019 — which examines law, policy and tech throughout fashion’s supply chain. For more on Wiley’s work, visit her GU profile here.