Winthrop Rockefeller Institute

Chief Executive Officer Christy Carpenter

Christy Carpenter was named CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in 2011. She has more than 30 years of experience in media, marketing and nonprofit management. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Paley Center for Media, which convenes top-level executives, journalists and creative talent to discuss critical issues on media – its role in democracy, business dynamics and influence on society and culture.

Prior to joining the Paley Center, Carpenter was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1998, where she served as vice chair. She continues to serve on the board of KCET, the largest public television station in Southern California. Previously, in San Francisco, she served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Wine Institute and as the senior executive for professional and public services for the State Bar of California. A lawyer by training, she was an early pioneer in online services during the 1980s and served as vice president and group director for the international public relations firm Hill & Knowlton in New York.

Early in her career, she clerked for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark when he served as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge after retiring from the nation’s highest court. She received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her law degree from the American University Law School as well as completing a year of studies at the London School of Economics.