Alec Ross Keynote Speaker

Alec Ross is a New York Times best-selling author and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at the business school of the University of Bologna. He is the author of The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People and the Fight for Our Future and The Industries of the Future. His books have been translated into 24 languages and best-seller on 5 continents.

He is a Board Partner at Amplo, a global venture capital firm and sits on the board of directors for companies in the fields of technology, finance, manufacturing, education, human capital and cybersecurity.

He has served as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and as a Senior Fellow at the Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs.

His writing has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy. His academic writing has appeared as the journal cover articles in publications including the SAIS Review of International Affairs and the NATO Review.

During the Obama Administration, he served as Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Secretary of State, a role created for him to help modernize the practice of diplomacy and bring innovative solutions to advance America’s foreign policy interests.

Alec served as the Convener for the Technology & Media Policy Committee on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and served on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team.

He co-founded and helped lead a technology-focused social enterprise and grew it from modest origins in a basement into a global organization serving millions of low-income people, with programs on four continents.

Among recognitions:

• S. Department of State Distinguished Honor Award
• Oxford University Internet & Society Award
• Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine
• National Consumers Union, Massimiliano Dona Award

“For his commitment on the frontier of change, his gaze to the future and his step into the reality of a world that in order to change cannot betray the trust of consumers.”

Alec started his career as a sixth grade teacher through Teach for America in inner-city Baltimore.