Gary R. Edson

Advisory Board

Gary Edson is a distinguished former government official and entrepreneur. He currently serves as president of Conservation International. Previously, he was the Global Health Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute, where he focused on the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, the leading public-private partnership aimed at reducing deaths from cervical and breast cancer in Africa and Latin America. Before that, he was CEO of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, working to rebuild the country of Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake. From 2001—2004, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy National Security Advisor. During that time, he was also chief negotiator for the presidential summits of G8, APEC, US-EU, and the Summits of the Americas.

Gary co-led the development of the $45 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative. He is credited with launching the organization Malaria No More as well as establishing the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent foreign aid agency reinforcing good governance, economic freedom, and investment in people.

Gary received his bachelor of arts in anthropology from Stanford University in 1977 and his master's in business administration and juris doctor from the University of Chicago in 1982.