Robert Wells Email & Phone Number

I most recently served as Executive Director of Global Engagement and Policy for a new Silicon Valley-based investment entity that aspired to harness technology and entrepreneurship to bring enduring change to the world’s most challenging problems in healthcare, food systems and climate change. There I played a foundational role in building the business model and in managing a key global partnership with a highly-regarded and well-known global NGO. Previously I led the GE New Market Development team at GE Ventures, exploring key opportunities to develop shared value partnerships with governments, funding agencies, the private sector, NGO's and philanthropies to bring growth to emerging markets. Prior to joining GE, I served with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 2009 to 2012 as head of the Biotechnology Unit in the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. There I covered a broad range of policy-related topics in various emerging fields, such as innovation in human health and biomedicine, industrial biotechnology, synthetic biology, biosecurity, and the development of knowledge networks and markets using intellectual property. From 2001 to 2007, I served Vice President for Corporate Affairs and International Markets with Affymetrix, Inc. Previously I served as Vice President for International Government Relations with Citigroup, based in Washington, DC. I did my undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and hold a J.D. degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law. I live in New York City with my wife and daughter.