Secretary John Kerry

Secretary John Kerry is co-executive chair at Galvanize, where he focuses on expanding the resources and reach of the firm’s investment strategies, originating differentiated opportunities, and leveraging firsthand knowledge as to how technology, policy, and geopolitics are shaping the energy transition.

In 2021, Secretary Kerry was sworn in as the United States’ inaugural Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal to sit on the National Security Council entirely dedicated to climate change. In that role, he negotiated successful restoration of US-China climate cooperation, helped galvanize $11.3 billion dollars in Athens to protect oceans, and helped shape the commitment of almost 200 countries embracing the UAE Consensus at COP28 to transition the world away from fossil fuels.

In 2013, he was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States, becoming the first sitting Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to serve as Secretary in over a century.

As America’s top diplomat, he guided the Department’s strategy on nuclear nonproliferation, combating radical extremism, and the threat of climate change. His tenure was marked by the successful negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, and the elevation of global environmental issues including the oceans within the framework of civilian security.

From 1985 to 2013, he served as a U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts, and was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2009 to 2013. In the Senate, he worked closely with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to make peace with Vietnam and begin normalization of relations.

In 2024, President Biden awarded Secretary Kerry the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his lifetime commitment to public service, saying simply, “the son of a foreign service officer, diplomacy is in his DNA.”

As a young man, Secretary Kerry served in the U.S. Navy, completing two combat tours of duty in Vietnam for which he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts.

Secretary Kerry is the best-selling author of A Call to Service, This Moment on Earth with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, and his 2018 memoir, Every Day Is Extra, which The New York Times described as “a bittersweet reminder of what the country once demanded of its leaders.”

He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Boston College Law School.