General Colin L. Powell

For over fifty years, General Colin L. Powell, USA (retired) has devoted his life to public service having held senior military and diplomatic positions across four presidential administrations.

General Powell served as President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Advisor and he served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H.W. Bush and for President Bill Clinton. Under President George W. Bush, General Powell was appointed the 65th Secretary of State and led the State Department in major efforts to address and solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world. He also worked at the forefront of American efforts to advance economic and social development worldwide.

General Powell is the Founder of the Colin L. Powell Center for Leadership and Service at his alma mater, the City College of New York, which has now grown into the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership for which he is the Chair of the Board of Visitors. He is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the America’s Promise Alliance, dedicated to forging a strong and effective partnership alliance committed to seeing that children have the fundamental resources they need to succeed.

Currently, General Powell is a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and is on the boards of Bloom Energy and Salesforce.com. General Powell also serves on the Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Institute’s African American Museum of History and Culture.

His New York Times best-selling autobiography, My American Journey, has been published in more than a dozen languages. His second book, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, reveals the lessons that shaped his life and career and was an instant best-seller when it was published in 2012.

General Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. They live in Virginia and have three children and four grandchildren.