Editing Patty Stonesifer

{{Short description|American businesswoman (born 1956)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Patty Stonesifer
| image              = Patty Stonesifer, President and Chief Executive Officer at Martha's Table.jpg
| caption            = Stonesifer in 2015
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place        = [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| education          = [[Indiana University, Bloomington]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| occupation         = Interim CEO, [[The Washington Post]]; Board Member Amazon, Rockefeller Foundation, Co-Impact and TheDream.us
| spouse             = [[Michael Kinsley]]
| children           = 2
}}
'''Patricia Q. Stonesifer''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|oʊ|n|s|aɪ|f|ər}} (born 1956) is an American executive. From June 2023 to January 2024, she was the interim CEO of ''[[The Washington Post]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/washington-post-will-lewis-publisher-2050bc460fcc8f40f5a61b62da7e147e |title=Washington Post names veteran media executive Will Lewis as its new publisher and CEO |work=Associated Press News |date=2023-11-05 |access-date=2024-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stelter |first=Brian |date=2024-06-27 |title=The Real Story of the Crisis at The Washington Post |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/06/washington-post-jeff-bezos-william-lewis/678799/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> and is on the board of [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]. She began her career in various executive roles at Microsoft before becoming the founding CEO of the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]]. She previously was the president and CEO of [[Martha's Table]], a Washington D.C.–based non-profit that provides community-based solutions to poverty.<ref>{{cite news |title=Patty Stonesifer Named President and CEO of Martha's Table |author=Wednesday |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/Patty-Stonesifer-Named-President-and-CEO-of-4234803.php |newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=January 30, 2013 |access-date=June 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130225547/http://www.seattlepi.com/business/press-releases/article/Patty-Stonesifer-Named-President-and-CEO-of-4234803.php|archive-date=January 30, 2013}}</ref><ref name="maureen">{{cite news |title=She's Getting Her Boots Dirty |author=Maureen Dowd |author-link=Maureen Dowd |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/opinion/sunday/dowd-patty-stonesifer-is-getting-her-boots-dirty-at-marthas-table.html?pagewanted=all |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 June 2013 |access-date=June 2, 2013}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Born in [[Indianapolis]], Indiana, Stonesifer is the sixth of nine children in a [[Roman Catholic]] family. Her father, Bill Quigley, was a car salesman and her mother was a physical therapist. Volunteering was a core value of her family and childhood; in addition to the nine children, the family hosted [[foster children]] for "a significant part of the time that I was growing up".<ref name="maureen"/> She graduated from [[Indiana University]] in 1982.<ref name="robin">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/arts/22muse.html|title=Patricia Q. Stonesifer, Former Chief of Gates Foundation, Expected to Be Chairwoman of Smithsonian|author=Robin Pogrebin|date=21 September 2008|access-date=9 June 2017|work =The New York Times}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Technology ===
Stonesifer spent two decades working at for-profit technology companies as a consultant to [[DreamWorks SKG]] and at [[Microsoft]] in various vice president positions. She began her tenure at Microsoft in 1988<ref name="amazon">{{cite web |title=Person Details: Patricia Q. Stonesifer |url=https://ir.aboutamazon.com/officers-and-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=99a46f8f-215e-490d-9247-ef5d973a1be8 |website=Amazon Investor Relations |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref> running its Canadian division before being promoted to vice president and revamping Microsoft's Product Support operations.<ref name="gatesfoundation">[http://www.gatesfoundation.org/leadership/Pages/patty-stonesifer.aspx Gates Foundation Bio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314061343/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/leadership/Pages/patty-stonesifer.aspx |date=2009-03-14 }} on Stonesifer.</ref> Later she oversaw the Consumer Products Group and served as senior vice president of the Interactive Media Division.<ref name="gatesfoundation" /> In the latter position, Stonesifer was responsible for an $800 million business responsible for interactive entertainment, news, information and service products, and she oversaw the launch of [[MSNBC]] ([[cable TV]]) and [[MSN]]. The Interactive Media Division produced software titles including [[Encarta]] [[Encyclopedia]], ''[[The Magic School Bus|Magic School Bus]]'' Series and ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''. In 1996 she negotiated a [[Microsoft]] and [[DreamWorks SKG]] joint venture, [[EA Los Angeles|DreamWorks Interactive]], which was subsequently acquired by [[Electronic Arts]].

In July 1996, while she worked at [[Microsoft]], she was named as one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hendrix |first=Steve |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/patty-stonesifer-former-ceo-of-gates-foundation-to-lead-dc-food-pantry/2013/01/29/18da5ab2-698f-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html |title=Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of Gates Foundation, to lead D.C. food pantry |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2013-01-29 |access-date=2017-06-09}}</ref> By the time she left Microsoft in 1997,<ref name="amazon"/> she was the highest-ranking woman there.<ref name="maureen"/>

=== Nonprofit work ===

She helped Bill and Melinda Gates found [[Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation|their foundation]], growing it from its inception in 1997 to the world's largest philanthropy with 500 employees by the time she stepped down in 2008.<ref name="test">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/07charity.html|title=Gates Foundation Head to Leave Longtime Post|date=7 February 2008|author=Stephanie Strom|access-date=9 June 2017|work = The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="maureen"/> In 1997, Bill and Melinda Gates asked Stonesifer to launch the Gates Library Foundation,<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/bill-and-melinda-gates-establish-library-foundation-970623.aspx|title=Gates Foundation Announcement}}</ref> which later merged with the William H. Gates Foundation in 2000. She was its CEO from 2006 to 2008 and President and co-chair from 1997 to 2006. Even after she stepped down, she continued her involvement as senior advisor until January 2012.<ref name="amazon"/>

Next, she served as chair of the Board of Regents of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], a position created as part of the Smithsonian's large-scale reform, from January 2009 to January 2012 and as Vice Chair from January 2012 to January 2013.<ref name="robin"/><ref name="amazon"/>

Stonesifer is a founding board member of the [[Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences]]. She served on the board of the [[GAVI|GAVI Fund]], which helps to provide vaccines to developing countries. Stonesifer has also served on the U.S. delegation to the [[United Nations]] General Assembly [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|Special Session on AIDS]]. She is a founding co-chair of the [[CITIES]] board, which promotes expanding the use of technology in Seattle's [[Community colleges in the United States|community colleges]].

Stonesifer donates both time and resources to a number of other regional nonprofit organizations; serves on the boards of the [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]], [[Center for Global Development]], and the [[Broad Institute]]; is a member of the Circle of Allies and Champions for the National Council of Young Leaders, the advisory board for America Achieves, and the executive committee of RaiseDC; and is a Hope Street Group advisor. Stonesifer served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the [[Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS]] and is a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and the [[Council on Foreign Relations]]. 

In 2010, President [[Barack Obama]] appointed Stonesifer to serve as the Chair of the [[White House Council for Community Solutions]].<ref>[http://www.serve.gov/council_home.asp#maincontent White House Council for Community Services | United We Serve]. Serve.gov. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.</ref> 

== Personal life ==
Stonesifer has received honorary degrees from [[Tufts University]], [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]], [[Trinity Washington University|Trinity University]], and [[American University]], in addition to her alma mater.

She is married to [[Michael Kinsley]], a political columnist and founding editor of the Microsoft-funded online journal ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''. She has two children, a son and a daughter, from a previous marriage, as well as two grandchildren.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/05/AR2009040502166.html|title=Profile of Patricia Stonesifer, Chairman of the Smithsonian's Board of Regents|author=Jacqueline Trescott| date=6 April 2009|access-date=2013-08-24|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name="qanda">{{cite news |title=A Q&A with Patty Stonesifer, President and CEO, Martha's Table |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2013/06/07/a-qa-with-patty-stonesifer-president.html |access-date=5 January 2022 |work=Washington Business Journal |date=6 June 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{C-SPAN|1012774}}
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{{Succession box
| title = CEO of "[[The Washington Post]]"
| years = 2023 - 2024 (interim)
| before = [[Fred Ryan]]
| after = [[William Lewis (journalist)]]
}}
{{s-end}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Stonesifer, Patty}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Microsoft employees]]
[[Category:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation people]]
[[Category:Corporate executives]]
[[Category:Women corporate executives]]
[[Category:American business executives]]
[[Category:American women business executives]]
[[Category:Amazon (company) people]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]