Meet the Commerce Department’s All-Star Startup Team
The new global advisory group includes some of the most prominent U.S. entrepreneurs who want to help the world.
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker chaired the first-ever meeting of the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship on Monday.
The group, whose formation President Obama announced last October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is composed of leading U.S. entrepreneurs who will act in an advisory capacity with policy leaders around the globe.
Their goal will be to help foster a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the creation of startups at home and abroad.
“America’s entrepreneurial spirit has always been a key driver of our economic growth and success,” Pritzker said in a statement today. “Through this group, we will take what we know about transforming innovative ideas into thriving companies and share that knowledge around the country and the world.”
Here’s a list of the entrepreneurs who will serve as advisors:
Rich Barton, co-founder and executive chairman of Zillow
Tory Burch, CEO, Tory Burch
Steve Case, chairman and CEO, Revolution Capital
Helen Greiner, founder and CEO, CyPhy Works; CoFounder, iRobot Corporation
Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman, LinkedIn
Quincy Jones, CEO, Quincy Jones Productions
Salman Khan, founder and executive director, Khan Academy
Daphne Koller, co-founder and president, Coursera
Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO, Chobani
Nina Vaca, CEO, Pinnacle Technical Resources (an Inc. 500 company)
Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO, LearnVest
“There’s no way to overstate the importance of entrepreneurship, especially as business continues to break through borders and language,” Pinnacle Technical Resources CEO Nina Vaca said in a statement. “This initiative proves that the dream of starting a business is a viable one, to domestic and international would-be entrepreneurs.”
The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development are partners in the new group.
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