Donald Henry Gips (born February 1, 1960) is the CEO of the

Skoll Foundation The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Billionaire entrepreneur Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 19 ...

. He is a former U.S. Ambassador to the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

from 2009 to 2013. Ambassador Gips was appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

on June 4 and confirmed by the Senate on July 7, 2009. He presented his credentials to South African President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

on October 1, 2009. He served until January 2, 2013. In February 2019, Gips was announced as the incoming CEO of the

, taking over for the retired Sally Osberg. He began as CEO on April 9, 2019, at the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Previously he was a principal at

Albright Stonebridge Group Albright Stonebridge Group, part of DGA Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, founded in 2001 by former ...

, a global strategic advisory firm. He also leads the firm's Africa practice. Previously he was the Divisional Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development for

Level 3 Communications Level 3 Communications, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications and Internet service provider company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. It ultimately became a part of CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies), where Level 3 Pres ...

and Director of

Mindspeed Technologies Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. was an American fabless semiconductor company that designed, manufactured, developed, and sold integrated circuits for communications applications in wireless and wired networks. Products Wireless Mindspeed’s prod ...

. He was also on the advisory board for President Barack Obama's presidential transition team. In the late 1990s Gips served as Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

's Chief Domestic Policy Advisor. Previously, he was the chief of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

's international bureau. He is married to Elizabeth Berry and has three children: Sam, Peter and Ben. Gips is a graduate of

Princeton Day School Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton, in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The largest division is the Upper School (grades 9� ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, and the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

References

External links

U.S. Department of State BiographyDonald Henry Gips - People - Department History - Office of the Historian
Donald Henry Gips (1960–)] 1960 births Living people Harvard College alumni Yale School of Management alumni American political consultants Ambassadors of the United States to South Africa Princeton Day School alumni {{US-diplomat-stub