WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump named Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs executive from Dallas, as an assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives Thursday, as he continues to fill White House roles leading up to his inauguration.

Powell, who was also a senior White House staffer under former President George W. Bush, will focus primarily on small business growth and women’s economic issues, Trump said.

After immigrating from Cairo at the age of 4, Powell grew up in Dallas, where she attended Ursuline Academy. She also attended the University of Texas at Austin, and during her time there she interned with former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Powell "is extraordinary, and she has gone so far since that first little internship because she is so graceful," Hutchison told CNN on Wednesday.

For 15 years after graduating college, Powell, now 43, worked for the federal government, including at the State Department, where she worked as assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs and deputy undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs.

In the Bush White House, as a 29-year old, Powell managed the personnel office. She was the youngest person to ever hold the position.

For the last several years, Powell has worked as the global head of investing at Goldman Sachs, in addition to serving as president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

“Dina Powell is a tremendous talent and has a stellar record of public service as well as a great career in the private sector,” Trump said in a written statement.

In the same statement, Powell added that she hoped to “unleash the untapped potential of small business owners and female entrepreneurs” in her new role.

“By working together with the public and private sectors, we can ensure that they continue to be a critical part of growing the economy and creating jobs,” she said.