SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will discuss how the public and private sectors can work together to best equip workers for the jobs of the future in a "keynote interview" at the 2014 ASU+GSV Education Innovation Summit on Wednesday, April 23, 2014. Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard will conduct the interview, which will take place at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The mission of the Department of Commerce is to help set the conditions for economic growth across the country. As the voice for business in the Administration,  Secretary Pritzker has spoken with CEOs and private sector leaders across the country about the challenges they face in finding the right workers to fill available jobs.  As such, Secretary Pritzker has made skills development a key priority for the Department, becoming the first Secretary of Commerce to do so. She is working with Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Vice President Biden on ways to align employers with job-training initiatives.

Co-hosted by Arizona State University and GSV Advisors from April 21-23, the 5th Annual Summit has become to education innovation what Davos is to global economics and Sun Valley is to media. Unlike other conferences that focus specifically on education policy or technology, the GSV Summit is unique both in composition and mission.  It is bringing together over 1,800 key stakeholders - educators, investors, policy makers, foundation leaders, business leaders, social and commercial entrepreneurs, and philanthropists - in one place to collaborate and drive change, and serves as a launch pad for new ideas and ventures.

In addition to Secretary Pritzker, other notables headlining this year's event are former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush; NBA legend and global social entrepreneur Earvin "Magic" Johnson; Deputy Secretary of Education James H. Shelton III, former Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham, and Netflix co-founder and CEO, investor and philanthropist Reed Hastings.

"Secretary Pritzker brings a truly unique amalgam of professional and personal experience to this year's ASU+GSV Summit. Her views on the worlds of education, business and jobs, and civic engagement - and the intersection of all three areas - promise to be insightful and thought-provoking," said Deborah Quazzo, the Summit's co-chair and Founder and Managing Partner of GSV Advisors. "We are honored that she will be joining us to share her vast knowledge."

Secretary Pritzker was appointed the 38th Secretary of Commerce by President Barack Obama in 2013. She had previously been appointed by the President to the President's Council for Jobs and Competitiveness, which advised the administration on economic growth and job creation, and served on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  She has also served on the boards of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Marmon Group and LaSalle Bank Corporation. She is past executive chairman of TransUnion, a global financial services information company.

Much of Ms. Pritzker's civic work focuses on public education. She served as advisory board chairman of Skills for America's Future, The Aspen Institute. Skills for America's Future is a national initiative that brings together businesses, community colleges and others to prepare workers for 21st century jobs. In 2012, she helped launch Skills for Chicagoland's Future, the first city model of Skills for America's Future. Ms. Pritzker is past chair of the Chicago Public Education Fund, the first venture philanthropy fund to raise private equity to invest in public schools, and a former member of the Chicago Board of Education.   Ms. Pritzker is a former member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and a former member of the Harvard University Board of Overseers.

Prior to her appointment as Secretary of Commerce, Ms. Pritzker served as CEO of PSP Capital Partners, and has previously developed such diverse companies as Vi (formerly Classic Residence by Hyatt), a leader in luxury living for older adults; The Parking Spot, a large U.S. network of off-site airport parking facilities; and Pritzker Realty Group.

For more information, visit http://edinnovation.gsvadvisors.com/.   @asugsvsummit
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SOURCE ASU+GSV Summit