Alexis Denny Kaufmann is a recent member of the Obama Administration, founder of several pioneering media companies, and an award-winning journalist. Appointed by President Barack Obama as Senior Advisor for Strategic Engagement at USAID, Alexis helped create innovative public-private partnerships around the world to bring about economic and social progress. In both her public and private sector careers, she has worked with foreign governments and businesses on every continent, from the founding cabinet of Nelson Mandela to celebrities and philanthropists like Quincy Jones. Her speciality has been to bring together individuals, business and governments in a strategic way to meet challenges with new engagement. Whether finding a way for international corporations to set up job training programs in Africa, or helping celebrities develop new technologies for distribution, the goal is engage different constituencies and audiences, whether global or local.
Prior to her work in public policy, Alexis had been in the international media business for over 30 years. She has represented heavyweight champions in international television negotiations, creating new models of transparency and anti-corruption guidelines. She has also pioneered methods of interactive humanitarian fundraising with Quincy Jones, creating a nationwide cable industry coalition for “We Are the World 25 for Haiti”.
Alexis began her career at age 19 when hired as the first woman on the Monday Night Football production team, later becoming the youngest producer/director for the Olympic Games. She founded Normandy International in the 1990s to capitalize on the de-regulation of global media markets, and distributed programming in over 100 countries – from Indonesia to South Africa, and Brazil to Germany.
Throughout her career, Alexis’ personal interests have drawn her to a variety of humanitarian endeavors, including leading a relief mission of medical supplies to war-torn Somalia.