WASHINGTON, DC – The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation is proud to welcome Benjamin Gray as Vice President. Gray will work closely with Founder and President Diane Foley to advance the Foundation’s strategic priorities including catalyzing action, research, and policy to advocate for all Americans held hostage or unjustly detained abroad, supporting press freedom around the world, and inspiring moral courage. He will assume his new position July 17.
Gray joins the Foley Foundation from Google, and previously held leadership positions at Twitter and the FBI. While at the FBI, Gray served as Chief of Staff for the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, helping lead U.S. and international efforts to bring home Americans held hostage and detained overseas. Gray has also served in policy, analytical, and operational roles at the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies, and founded the International Business Council, a nonprofit organization that supported small business growth in developing countries. Gray holds master’s degrees in Business Administration and Public Administration from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
Foundation Founder and President Diane Foley said: “As the Foley Foundation prepares for our 10th anniversary next year, I am delighted Benjamin is joining our team. His distinguished expertise in national security, driving organizational and operational change, and leading strategic initiatives in the public interest will be strong assets for the Foley Foundation. Benjamin has a proven track record supporting hostages and detainees and their families as part of his government service, and the entire Foley team is grateful that he is bringing his talents to the Foundation.”
Gray said: “I am honored to be joining the Foley Foundation and to have the opportunity to work closely with Diane and this small yet mighty team. In my career in government I saw firsthand how Diane’s record of advocacy made a strong policy impact, helping to galvanize the U.S. Government hostage enterprise into action, cut through bureaucracy to support families, and drive necessary policy and legislation. As our fellow Americans continue to be taken and held overseas, increasingly by state actors, we all must do everything in our power to bring each and every one home – safely and swiftly – while supporting them and their families.”
