Ambassador Donald Gips is a Senior Advisor at DGA–Albright Stonebridge Group, a founding member of DGA Group, and is based in Menlo Park, CA. He is recognized as a leader in social innovation and strategic philanthropy, drawing on extensive experience across public service, business, and diplomacy. 

Ambassador Gips brings more than three decades of leadership across government, philanthropy, and the social sector. As Strategic Counselor and CEO Emeritus at the Skoll Foundation, he advises on strategy, partnerships, leadership development, and organizational growth. From 2019 to 2025, he served as CEO of the Foundation, guiding its mission to invest in, connect, and champion social innovators worldwide. In government, Ambassador Gips served as Director of Presidential Personnel during President Obama’s first term before being appointed U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, earning the 2010 Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. During the Clinton administration, he was Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore, and helped design the AmeriCorps program. In the private sector, he led the Africa practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, was a venture partner at Columbia Capital, led Corporate Development at Level 3, advised businesses at McKinsey and Co, and served as Senior Advisor at Blackstone. 

Ambassador Gips holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management and a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University. He serves on the boards of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund US and Cassava Technologies, Africa’s leading provider of information and telecommunications services. He also serves as a Senior Advisor at several philanthropic, private sector, and civil society organizations.