Departing the State Department

From:RossAJ@state.gov To: RossAJ@state.gov Date: 2013-03-11 14:14 Subject: Departing the State Department

Dear Friends & Colleagues: Tomorrow will be my last day as Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Secretary of State. It has been a remarkable and rewarding last four years. There are far too many people for me to thank for their support, but I did want to specifically extend my thanks to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills. Under Secretary Clinton's leadership we were able to develop a bold, wide-ranging innovation agenda that implemented a set of new diplomatic practices that harness the power of network technologies to advance our foreign policy goals. I'm pleased to leave knowing that this work will only continue to grow under the leadership of Secretary Kerry and his very gifted and committed team. Constant disruption requires diplomacy to be adaptive - responding quickly to change and incorporating new programs and practices to meet the needs of the 21st century. While I had the honor of stewarding this agenda, the work of making it real was done by people at every level of the State Department, all over the world. In terms of what is next for me, I will be immersing myself in new opportunities including two writing projects and engaging as an advisor to investors, corporations, institutions and government leaders to help them understand the implication of macro factors emerging at the intersection of geopolitics, markets and increasingly disruptive network technologies. I also plan to dig deep in areas of emerging opportunity in the innovation space. There are products that only live today in peoples' imaginations that will help us live happier, healthier, more productive lives while unleashing the next stage of value creation and economic growth. I will be spending a lot of time engaged with the thinkers and entrepreneurs imagining and inventing the future. I can be reached by email at Alec.Ross@gmail.com or messaged on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Alec.Ross1 I want to conclude by thanking my colleagues from across the Obama Administration and the men and women of our Foreign Service, civil service, and local embassy and consulate staff. Winston Churchill once said "we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Over the last four years I have had the honor to see just how much you all give, day-in, day-out. America owes you a debt of gratitude. My best, Alec Alec Ross Senior Advisor for Innovation Office of the Secretary of State (202) 647-6315 RossAJ@State.gov