Clarence Wardell
Senior Program Officer / Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr. Clarence Wardell III is a Senior Program Officer on the Economic Mobility and Opportunity team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads the team’s efforts to foster innovation to improve economic outcomes for individuals in the U.S. with low incomes. Before joining the foundation, Clarence served in several senior roles in the Biden-Harris Administration and on the transition team focused on policy implementation and advancing equity through the federal government, including as Senior Advisor for Policy Implementation and Delivery with the Domestic Policy Council and as the Chief Data and Equity Officer for the White House American Rescue Plan Team. Clarence has also previously served in roles at Results for America, CNA Corporation, and in the Obama Administration working to scale evidence-based solutions to address various challenges at the local, state, and federal levels of government. Clarence’s work in the Obama Administration, where he co-led the White House Police Data Initiative as a Presidential Innovation Fellow and member of the U.S. Digital Service, earned him recognition as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business in 2017. In 2012, Clarence co-founded and later sold tinyGive, a social media-based charitable giving platform.
Clarence holds a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.