Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker is an entrepreneur, civic leader and philanthropist with more than 30 years of experience as a business builder and entrepreneur in numerous industries. Pritzker is the founder and chairman of PSP Partners and its affiliates Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Capital and PSP Growth.

From June 2013 through January 2017, she served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Pritzker was a core member of President Obama’s economic team and served as the country’s chief commercial advocate, leading the administration’s trade and investment promotion efforts. During her tenure, she developed the agency’s first comprehensive digital and data agenda, chaired the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) program, and served as the administration’s point person on manufacturing.

Pritzker is a member of the board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and co-chair of the new Cyber Readiness Institute. Pritzker and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, also co-founded the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation that works to foster increased economic opportunity for Chicago’s families.

She earned a bachelor of arts in economics from Harvard University and a juris doctor and an MBA from Stanford University.

Pritzker joined the Microsoft board as an independent director in November 2017.