The Honorable Patricia (Pat) de Stacy Harrison was named president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on June 23, 2005. Before that, she had served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs since October 2, 2001 and as Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
At the State Department, Ms. Harrison focused on reaching wider, more diverse publics, particularly young people, through international education and exchange programs. She created "Partnerships for Learning" (P4L), a global initiative providing young people with enhanced education and opportunity. Ms. Harrison also directed the historic resumption of the Fulbright Program in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ms. Harrison was awarded the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for excellence in leadership in these positions.
As an entrepreneur and author, Ms. Harrison has provided more than 20 years of leadership in communication strategy, coalition, and constituency building. She is the author of A Seat At The Table: An Insider's Guide for America's New Women Leaders and the author of America's New Women Entrepreneurs. As founder and president of the National Women's Economic Alliance, she worked to identify women and minorities for leadership roles in business and politics. Through Decade for Democracy, a mentoring exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration, Ms. Harrison worked with women entrepreneurs in emerging democracies, to help them achieve within their new free enterprise systems.