Alec Ross (born November 30, 1971) is an American technology policy expert who was Senior Advisor for Innovation to

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

for the duration of her term as Secretary of State.Kang, Cecilia (April 6, 2009)
"Diplomatic Efforts Get Tech Support"
'' The Washington Post''. After leaving the Department of State in 2013 he joined the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a pri ...

as a Senior Fellow. Ross is the author of the '' New York Times'' bestseller '' The Industries of the Future'' and ''The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People – and the Fight for Our Future''. ''The Industries of the Future'' has been translated to twenty-four languages, and was named the 2016 Book of the Year by the TriBeCa Film Festival's Disruptive Innovation Foundation. Ross was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Bologna Business School. He is also a Board Partner at Amplo, a global venture capital firm.

Background

Ross was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a paralegal. At age 12 he moved to Italy for a year to live with his grandfather, Ray DePaulo, who was the commercial minister at the U.S. embassy in Rome. Ross attended college at Northwestern University. After graduating in 1994 from Northwestern University with a B.A. in history,Conconi, Chuck
"WL Feature: Alec Ross, Digital Diplomat"
''Washington Life'', March 25, 2010 Ross moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

to work at Booker T. Washington Middle School as a Teach for America AmeriCorps Member. Ross taught for two years and then accepted a position as special assistant to the president of the

Enterprise Foundation Enterprise foundations are foundations that own companies. Enterprise foundations are independent, self-governing entities with no owners. They are characterised by long time horizons, philanthropic goals and the absence of personal profit motive ...

. He focused on developing business, technology and fundraising strategies."Innovator Alec Ross Joins State Dept.," ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...

'', April 6, 2009. In 2000, he co-founded

One Economy One Economy Corporation is a Washington, D.C. based, global, nonprofit organization that uses the power of technology to connect underserved, low-income communities around the world to vital online information and resources. Founded in 2000, One ...

, a global nonprofit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information about education, jobs, health care and other vital issues to low-income people.

Government service

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Ross played a key role in developing then-Sen. Barack Obama's technology and innovation plan, convening more than 500 advisors in the process of cultivating the candidate's innovation agenda."Hillary Clinton Launches "21st Century Statecraft" Initiative by State Department"
''

TechPresident TechPresident is a nonpartisan political website founded by Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry with the idea of tracking how the Internet is impacting U.S. political campaigns. It was launched on February 12, 2007 to monitor the United States preside ...

'', May 13, 2009. In April 2009, Ross joined the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

as Senior Advisor on Innovation."The Creative List: New Media"
''

Washington Life Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

,'' November 8, 2009. Hillary Clinton described his work by saying that "Alec Ross has been my right hand on all that we're doing for internet freedom." Alec worked with Hillary Clinton instituting Civil Society 2.0. Through his work at the State Department, Ross institutionalized ways to use Web video and social networking sites. In 2009 he told ''U.S. News & World Report'', "It's about how can you reach large numbers of people who otherwise would be difficult to impossible to reach." Ross argued that governments using modern communications technologies can be more creative and responsive in how they enable people to engage directly with each other and with other countries. Ross also drove efforts to aid other countries through digital development initiatives like wiring schools, adding wireless capacity to public works, text-message reminders to HIV patients, and leap frogging communities from cash culture to mobile banking. During the Libyan uprising, Ross drove the State Department's efforts to "restore communication networks in rebel-held territories such as Benghazi, working with the late Amb. Chris Stevens, to fight the Internet blackout imposed by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi." Ross' team also "provided communications technologies to opposition members in the Syrian border areas and trained NGOs on how to avoid the regime's censorship and cyber snooping." During his tenure at the State Department, Ross was a vocal critic of efforts to control or surveil the internet. In addition to concerns over countries increasing surveillance capabilities, Ross highlighted cases where businesses prioritized profit motives over the potential harms of technologies. In 2011, he publicly "criticised the developers of internet surveillance equipment who were willing to sell their services to repressive regimes and allow governments to censor their citizens.”

Political career

In April 2017, Ross launched a campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Maryland in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. In February 2018 he announced as his running mate Julie Verratti, a craft brewery co-owner, former Senior Advisor at the Small Business Administration, and LGBT political activist. In June 2018, Ross finished seventh in the nine candidate Democratic primary with 2.4% of the votes.

Personal life

Ross lives in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and in Italy with his wife, Felicity, and their three children: Colton, Tehle, and Sawyer.

Publications

Books

* 2021: Alec Ross. ''The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People – and the Fight for Our Future''. Henry Holt and Co. *2016: Alec Ross. '' The Industries of the Future''. Simon & Schuster.

Articles

* 2021: "The Pentagon's Army of Nerds." The Atlantic. * 2016: Our Children and the Next Economy by Alec Ross. * 2016: "The Language Barrier is About to Fall." The Wall Street Journal. * 2013: Alec Ross. Light Up the West Bank: Want to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process? Start with 3G.

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

. * 2012: Alec Ross. How connective tech boosts political change. CNN. * 2011: Alec Ross and Ben Scott. 21st Century Statecraft. NATO Review. * 2010: Alec Ross. Internet Freedom: Historic Roots and the Road Forward. The SAIS Review of International Affairs Volume 30, Number 2, Summer-Fall. * 2007: Simon Rosenberg and Alec Ross. A Laptop in Every Backpack with Simon Rosenberg. NDN Globalization Initiative.

Awards

Distinguished Honor Award The Distinguished Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or i ...

from the U.S. Department of State *2020 National Consumers Union, Massimiliano Dona Award *Book of the Year, The TriBeCa Film Festival's Disruptive Innovation Foundation (2016) * Disruptive Innovation Award, The TriBeCa Film Festival's Disruptive Innovation Foundation (2013) *

Oxford Internet Institute The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a multi-disciplinary department of social and computer science dedicated to the study of information, communication, and technology, and is part of the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford ...

OII Award (2013) * TriBeCa Film Festival Disruptive Innovator Award (2012)

External links

* 202
C-SPAN The Raging 2020s
Alec Ross in conversation with Hillary Clinton * 202
Barron's interview with Alec Ross
* 202
Bloomberg, The Five Best Books of 2021 According to Asia's Richest Man
Mukesh Ambani on ''The Raging 2020s'' * 202
The Wall Street Journal, Business Leaders Share Their Favorite Books of 2021
David M. Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, on ''The Raging 2020s'' * 201

* 201
They Made Him a Moron
Evgeny Morozov's Profile of Alec Ross * 201
The Industries of the Future: Charlie Rose
interview * 201
Ross on the Future of Work
CNN interview

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Alec 1971 births American technology writers Living people Northwestern University alumni Teach For America alumni