Rey Ramsey Named New President and CEO of TechNet

Intel’s Paul Otellini and Google’s Eric Schmidt Also Join TechNet’s Executive Committee

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — TechNet, the bipartisan political network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today announced that it will appoint Rey Ramsey as the organization’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. TechNet also announced today that TechNet members Paul Otellini, President and CEO of Intel, and Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, will join the organization’s Executive Committee.

Ramsey will assume his new leadership role with TechNet in January, succeeding Lezlee Westine who left the organization in May to head the Personal Care Products Council. Ramsey currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit that leverages the power of technology to improve the lives of low-income people, which he co-founded in 2000. One Economy brings unserved and underserved communities into the economic mainstream through facilitating affordable at-home broadband access, producing public-purpose media, and training and employing “Digital Connectors,” youth aged 14-21, to enhance their communities’ technology capacity.

As TechNet President and CEO, Ramsey will be based in Washington, DC and will oversee the organization’s day-to-day operations, strategic planning and implementation of TechNet’s public policy and political agenda.

Ramsey will continue as Chairman of the Board for One Economy and serve in the newly established One Economy Office of the Chair. Moustafa Mourad, current President of One Global Economy, will serve as Acting President of One Economy during the transition.

“Rey Ramsey is a proven and visionary technology leader and we are honored to have him take the helm at TechNet,” said John Doerr, TechNet co-founder and partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. “Rey’s spectacular work at One Economy has helped thousands of Americans gain greater economic opportunities through the power of technology. His energy, leadership and entrepreneurial spirit are a wonderful addition to our TechNet team. We look forward to working with him day in and day out to accelerate innovation and improve America’s education and economic future. We are also very excited to have two of the world’s finest business innovators — Paul Otellini and Eric Schmidt — joining TechNet’s Executive Committee to provide even more strong and dynamic leadership for the organization.”

During his tenure at One Economy, Ramsey led the organization’s growth from four employees working in a basement to a global organization operating on four continents. Since 2000, One Economy has helped bring broadband access into the homes of over 350,000 low-income Americans and over 17 million people have visited One Economy’s multilingual Web properties. Prior to his service with One Economy, Ramsey served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Enterprise Foundation. Before his work with Enterprise, Ramsey practiced law and served as the state’s director of housing and community services in the cabinets of two Oregon governors.

“TechNet has made an inspired choice in Rey Ramsey as its next President and Chief Executive Officer,” said John Chambers, Cisco Chief Executive Officer and TechNet co-founder. “Rey has a clear understanding of how technology can improve the lives of all of our people and he knows that our nation’s economic future is dependent on preparing our workers for the jobs of tomorrow. Rey comes to us with a proven track record, and he represents the perfect choice to lead TechNet in its second decade of supporting strong and effective public policies that help enable our nation to continue as the world’s innovation leader.”

“I am inspired and humbled to work with the technology and innovation sector,” said Rey Ramsey. “The social and economic health of America is inexorably linked to the strength of this sector. We will know that our country has achieved the full potential of technology when every schoolchild has both the opportunity and the capacity to join and drive the innovation economy — whether through working at one of these great companies or starting one of their own.”

“As we move toward economic recovery, we must double down in our support and advocacy for policies which drive education, innovation and economic growth,” said Paul Otellini, President and CEO of Intel. “Rey Ramsey understands this dynamic and is the perfect leader for our efforts. It’s an honor for me to join TechNet’s leadership committee and I look forward to working with Rey on this important innovation policy agenda.”

“Rey is an exceptional leader who has helped bring the power of the Internet and innovation to virtually every corner of the globe,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Google. “He’s going to do a great job of advocating for public policy that promotes innovation and a high-tech economy.”

“We are delighted to welcome Rey Ramsey to TechNet and look forward to working with him to improve America’s support for innovation and technology,” said Kim Polese, Chief Executive Officer of SpikeSource. “Rey is a proven and forceful advocate for smart policies that help spur innovation and improve the lives of our people in every corner of our nation.”

Ramsey has extensive experience creating innovative partnerships between nonprofits, government, and the private sector. Mr. Ramsey is the author, with Ben Hecht, of the book ManagingNonprofits.org: Dynamic Management for the Digital Age (John Wiley & Sons). Ramsey serves on a number of boards, including the Schnitzer Investment Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Washington Jesuit Academy, where he is vice-chairman. He was also chairman of the NAACP’s Futures Commission and served on the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy and chairman of Habitat for Humanity International from 2003-2005. Ramsey holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School.

Mr. Ramsey will work closely with TechNet’s diverse membership and policymakers to push forward with TechNet’s Innovation Policy Agenda.

About TechNet:

TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of technology industries and the economy by building long-term relationships between technology leaders and policymakers and by advocating a targeted policy agenda. Our members are the nation’s drivers of innovation in the fields of information technology, e-commerce, clean technology, biotechnology, venture capital and investment banking – representing two million employees and $800 billion in revenues. TechNet has offices in Washington, DC, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston, Austin, and Albany, NY. Web address: www.technet.org. You can also follow us on Twitter at Technetupdate@twitter.

SOURCE TechNet