Alec Ross

Alec Ross is a global bestselling author and Distinguished 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 have become bestsellers on five continents.

He is a Board Partner at Collective Global, a global venture capital firm, and serves on the boards of companies in the fields of technology, manufacturing, media, education, human capital, health, and cybersecurity.

He has served as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and as a Senior Fellow at Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs. His writings have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy. His academic work has been published as cover articles in journals such as SAIS Review of International Affairs and NATO Review.

During the Obama administration, he served as Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Secretary of State, a role created specifically for him to modernize the practice of diplomacy and bring innovative solutions to advance U.S. foreign policy interests.

Alec also served as Coordinator for the Technology and Media Policy Committee during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and was part of the Obama-Biden presidential transition team.

He co-founded and led a technology-focused social enterprise that grew from humble beginnings in a basement into a global organization serving millions of low-income people, with programs active across four continents.

Among the recognitions he has received are:

• The Distinguished Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State
• The Internet & Society Award from the University of Oxford
• Foreign Policy Magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers
• The Massimiliano Dona Award from the Italian National Consumers Union, for his commitment to driving change, his forward-looking vision, and his ability to embrace the realities of a world where progress cannot come at the expense of consumer trust