President Biden today named former Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to serve as the new U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery.
Pritzker is the founder and Chairman of PSP Partners and its affiliates, Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Capital, and PSP Growth. From June 2013 through January 2017, she served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration.
In addition to her work at PSP Partners, Pritzker launched a number of other businesses over the course of her career, which included founding Vi Senior Living (formerly known as Classic Residence by Hyatt), and co-founding The Parking Spot, Artemis Real Estate Partners, and Inspired Capital Partners. Pritzker is a member of the boards of Microsoft Corporation, DEPT and Icertis. She is also the former executive chairman of the board of TransUnion and is a past board member of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Marmon Group, and LaSalle Bank Corporation.
Pritzker is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Economic Strategy Group, member of the Obama Foundation Board and co-chair of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Advisory Council. Pritzker previously served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and cofounder and board chair of Chicago-based civic-tech organization P33. She also was formerly a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the board of trustees of Stanford University, the Harvard University Board of Overseers and founded Skills for America’s Future. Pritzker also served on President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
“Working in lockstep with the Ukrainian government, our allies and partners, international financial institutions, and the private sector, she will drive the United States’ efforts to help rebuild the Ukrainian economy. This includes mobilizing public and private investment, shaping donor priorities, and working to open export markets and businesses shut down by Russia’s brutal attacks and destruction,” Biden said in a statement today. “Special Representative Pritzker will also work with Ukraine’s other international partners, including via the G7 coordination platform, to ensure that international efforts are complementary and mutually reinforcing, as well as to encourage international partners to keep stepping up their support for Ukraine’s immediate economic recovery needs. Special Representative Pritzker will help the Ukrainian government make reforms needed to strengthen its economy, and Special Representative Pritzker will work with Ukraine to help ensure that as Ukraine begins to rebuild, it rebuilds stronger.” “As we take this next step to help Ukraine forge a stronger future, we remain steadfastly committed to helping it defend its freedom today,” Biden added. “The brave people of Ukraine have inspired the world with their resilience and resolve, and as this announcement reaffirms, the United States remains committed to stand with them, for as long as it takes.”
