Zoë Baird

Zoë Baird is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Markle Foundation, which focuses on realizing the potential of information technology to address challenging issues in national security, health care, and the economy. She currently leads Rework America, a Markle initiative of more than 50 diverse national leaders focused on creating more paths to opportunity for all Americans in the digital economy. She wrote the preface to the group’s collectively authored book, America’s Moment: Creating Opportunity in the Connected Age, and is leading a national partnership to create a skills-based labor market, Skillful. Ms. Baird previously led Markle’s efforts to reform the intelligence community and convened The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. The Task Force reports reframed the role of intelligence in protecting the nation while preserving civil liberties. Ms. Baird also spearheaded Markle’s efforts to catalyze improvements in health care, helping drive changes that enabled information to be shared securely and privately. Prior to Markle, she served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Aetna; Counselor and Staff Executive at GE; partner at O’Melveny & Myers; Associate Counsel to President Carter; and as Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Baird is founding co-chair of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Board of Advisors, an Honorary Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the board of the New York City Ballet, a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, and a member of the Defense Policy Board. Ms. Baird holds an A.B. Phi Beta Kappa and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.