Patrick Gaspard

PATRICK GASPARD is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Gaspard was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to Haitian parents. He grew up in New York City where he started as a union organizer and rose to become executive vice president for politics and legislation and then national political director of the Local 1199 branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest unions in the United States.

Gaspard most recently served as the president of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), one of the largest private philanthropies in the world, where he confronted significant threats to open societies around the globe, including the rise of authoritarian regimes and the spread of COVID-19 worldwide. He also shaped the foundation’s $220 million commitment to civil rights groups in the wake of the national reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd.

During his tenure as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, from 2013 to 2016, Gaspard led the effort to redesign PEPFAR and integrate it effectively into the South African health care system. He also successfully led the trade negotiations that led to an unprecedented 10-year renewal of the bilateral African Growth and Opportunity compact between the trading partners.

Gaspard attended Columbia University and is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Columbia University and Bard College. He has also been awarded the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP.