Douglas Jay Band (born October 28, 1972) is an American businessman and lawyer who is a founding partner and former president of

Teneo Teneo is a public relations and advisory company. The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band, and as of 2025 has more than 1,600 employees located in 40 offices. In 2019, Teneo sold a majority stake to ...

, a multinational

C-suite Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit org ...

advisory firm and investment bank. Previously he was Deputy Assistant to President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

andAlumni CLASnotes
"Alumni CLASnotes Spring 2008 - Doug Band Spotlight"
'' The University of Florida, Alumni CLASnotes, written by Buffy Lockette'' later counselor to President Bill Clinton. Band was the "key architect" of the Clinton post-presidency and he created the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

(CGI). Band later worked for the William J. Clinton Foundation, and also traveled to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

to orchestrate the release of the two Americans and to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to help secure the release of another American, Alan P. Gross. He was a member of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

's international advisory committee, and since 2010 has been an associate adjunct professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, teaching a class on public service.

Early life and education

Band is the youngest of four children of David and Myrna Band. A native of

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, Band earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

with a major in English and a minor in Ethics. He was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity. While working in the White House for six years, he earned a master's degree in liberal arts from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

's graduate school and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

, attending both programs in the evening while working full time in the White House.

Career

Service in the Clinton presidency

Band began working in the

in 1995 during the Clinton presidency as an unpaid intern in the

White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...

's Office. Band then served on the White House Counsel's office staff for four years, eventually becoming a special assistant to the president, and then one of the youngest deputy assistants ever to serve a president. Band then served as the President's aide, traveling to nearly 125 countries and over 2,000 cities.

Post-presidential career

Band served as counselor and chief advisor to former President Clinton until 2012 and became "the key architect of Clinton's post-presidency."Alisson Clark
"Doug Band: The Gator Behind Bill Clinton"
''

The Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. History The paper was founded in July 1876 as the ''Gainesville Times'', by brothers E. M. and ...

'', February 4, 2009. During Clinton's post-presidency, Band helped set up and advised President Clinton's personal office and the Clinton Global Initiative and advised the William J. Clinton Foundation in its formative years. He created and built the Clinton Global Initiative. According to figures released by the Clinton Foundation, CGI raised $69 billion for 2,100 philanthropic projects around the world. Clinton has credited Band with CGI: "Doug had the idea to do this," also stating that he was "very grateful for the role that

and And or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar and computing * Conjunction, connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a Boolean oper ...

played when we started out." In 2002, Band met

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...

as Clinton and Epstein went on a trip together. Band said he disliked Epstein and urged Clinton to cease his relationship with him, which Clinton refused to do. Band claimed in a 2020 interview that he was unaware of Epstein's criminal activities, and he also said Clinton had visited Epstein's island, Little Saint James, in January 2003. The flight logs of Epstein's private jets indicate Band has traveled on the airplane 26 times, including two flights on 14 June 2003, together with Epstein and

Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell ( ; born 25 December 1961) is a British-French-American former socialite and convicted sex offender. She was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the deceased financier and ...

, but without Clinton. Band negotiated with the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

to appoint then-Senator

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

to become Secretary of State.Monica Langley
"Bill Clinton in Talks to Smooth Wife's Path to Cabinet"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', November 19, 2008, pp. A01. Band also traveled with former President Clinton to North Korea to orchestrate the release of American journalists

Laura Ling Laura Ling (born December 1, 1976) is an American journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called jou ...

and

Euna Lee Euna Lee (; born 1972) is an American journalist. While working for Current TV, Lee and fellow journalist Laura Ling were detained in North Korea after they crossed into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the People's Republic of ...

from captivity on August 4, 2009. According to emails from 2009 and 2011 published by Wikileaks Band wrote a memo accusing Bill Clinton,

Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator. Clinton was born in Little Rock, Ar ...

, and her husband Marc Mezvinsky of conflicts of interest, with the latter raising money for his hedge fund from Clinton foundation donors and friends. In 2011, Chelsea Clinton accused Band of having conflicts of interest between his work at the Clinton Foundation and Teneo Consulting. According to ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'', the dispute eventually "degenerated" into a "dust-up" between Doug Band and Chelsea Clinton. Band resigned from working for the Clintons in 2012. Band was on the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board and on the Vote Vets advisory board. He is on the

Board of Regents and the board of

Boys and Girls Club Boys & Girls Club may refer to: * Boys & Girls Clubs of America * Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada * Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs, Bronx, United States * Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, in Essex and East London, England * The Boys' and Girls' Clubs ...

, and is a trustee at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, and on the boards of

New York City Football Club New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. New York City FC is owned by City Fo ...

, Students First, and the

Foundation. Band was a member of the board of directors for the USA Bid Committee in its failed effort to bring the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

to the United States in 2018 or 2022, through

US Soccer The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at ...

. Since 2010 Band has taught a class on The Intersection of Politics and Public Service at

Wagner as an adjunct associate professor. Band retired from Teneo in December 2020.

Personal life

Band and his wife Lily Rafii live in New York City and have three children. Bill Clinton gave a toast at Band's wedding.

References

External links

Doug Band at TeneoDoug Band Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Band, Doug 1972 births Living people Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Clinton administration personnel Assistants to the president of the United States Georgetown University Law Center alumni People from Sarasota, Florida